My Sign of Summer

There are no lack of signs of summer around a farm.  There are the crops, of course.  And the fast growing ducks reach their adult size and coloring.

But it is a certain plant that announces the new season as unambiguously as a dinner bell.

And no, it is not the roses.  They are out, but have been out for a while at this point.

My personal, most reliable indicator is a poisonous weed so distasteful that even the sheep leave it alone.  (And they love poison ivy.)   It is foxglove.  And every year its purplish/pinkish flowers with speckled throats let me know that spring is indeed over, and summer has begun.  

It is a biennial, so don't look for it in the same spot as last year.

Alternative Sign of Summer: Raccoons become parents, as did the one who left these prints behind at a friend's this morning.