Two meteor showers are on the horizon. The Delta Aquarids, visible between July 12 and Aug. 23, peak on July 28 at about 20 meteors an hour. The grand summer show of the Perseids, from July 17 to Aug. 24, peak on Aug. 12 with 50 to 70 an hour. The Aquarids will peak in a darker sky, while the Perseids peak near the radiance of the full moon, making them harder to see. We will hope for clear skies as we look east for these falling stars.
California bay trees are full of greenish-yellow balls that look like lemons and limes. By fall, this fleshy covering will be as purple as a small eggplant and the hard-shelled nut inside will be ready for harvest. Hazel shrubs are producing nuts, sometimes called filberts. That name is attributed to European immigrants who noted that the nuts are typically ripe near the Catholic feast day of Saint Philibert. The soft, velvety-leafed shrub wraps the nuts in a husk similar to an ear of corn.
It is blackberry season! Look for the two different species, dime-sized native blackberries with small leaves and the quarter-sized hybrid Himalayan berries. Watch for poison oak as you pick; the itchy shrubs are often found next to the sturdier blackberry canes, as the thick berry canes help provide stability to the poison oak.