Since I know you're all on the edge of your seats I'll give you the hollyhock report. You remember I went out to Max and Amy's house in early spring, snuck over to Rancho Obsesso, and sprayed the hollyhocks with some low-environmental-impact goop to fight the angular leaf spot that made such a mess of them last year. (There will soon be a photo on the website of last year's messy ones, to compare with a photo I'll take later this summer.) They were just poking up through the ground then, which is when you're supposed to use this spray. Now they're 2 feet tall, and I have to say they look much better than last year's, though a lot of leaves still have lacy holes. They had buds, so maybe next weekend or the one after we'll get to see if this stuff works.

Meanwhile the red and white poppies are both starting to open. Poppies are funny because their buds are so thick and substantial, but the flowers when they open are flimsy and look bedraggled almost immediately. But the red ones are a very bright orange-red and the white ones have deep purple centers, so they're certainly worth looking at.