10 July 2021

Pittsburgh’s weather fluctuated this week from pleasant to oppressively humid. Always late to get outdoors, I missed the best part of each day. The flowers were open but the birds were hiding at:

• Duck Hollow and Lower Nine Mile Run on 3 July. 73 degrees, a pleasant day!
• Montour Trail on 5 July. 85 degrees in the shade, cooler in Enlow Tunnel.
• Three Rivers Heritage Trail on the South Side on 6 July. Almost 90 degrees and very sunny.

I was dripping with sweat on 6 July when I found this namesake plant, St. John’s wort (Hypericum prolificum), pushing up from a crack in the sidewalk. What a hardy plant standing tall on a hot day. I wilted after 30 minutes in the sun.

p.s. A story about peppergrass.

(photos by Kate St. John)