Conversations: Signs of Summer, Solstice Time
JUNE 7TH, 2026
Cover Image. "Diagram of the Solstices and Equinoxes" (late 12th century). Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question in the Conversations chat last month:
What plants, animals, or other natural phenomena most symbolize summer for you?
I've compiled the responses below, with links to relevant Wikipedia articles.
They represent a variety of locations and climates but speak, I think, to the distinct vitality of summer: its abundance of insects, fruits, flowers, sounds, and gradually darkening greens.
- Poppies, watermelons, and crabs. (@ARANCIONE)
- Nettles (Urtica dioica), blackberries (Himalayan blackberry), and my mom’s hydrangeas. (@YESANDOFTEN)
- The cluster of bugs on my lights at night. (@WHOSASKIN)
- Grubs transforming into June bugs Chirping crickets and lightning bugs. Dandelions, whose phases are said to represent the sky—sun (yellow bloom), moon (white seed heads), and stars (blown seeds!). (@NETTABITS)
- For me, summer is best sensed by frogs' nocturnal calling, by crape myrtle trees blooming, by inescapable spiderwebs on every conceivable outdoor fixture, and by dark green leaves across all deciduous trees. (@KLATORRE)
- Elderberries and cicadacicada rhythms rhythms. (@NYMPHAEA)
Feel free to comment on this DFOS post with additional signs of summer. After all, it's just getting started!
This Month's Chat: Solstice Time
Many of us in the northern hemisphere are approaching the longest day(s) of the year, which brings about many changes in our natural and built environments, our daily rhythms and activities, our patterns of labor and creativity. The shifts can be both personal and collective.
How do you mark the summer solstice? How does the extended daylight affect your life?
Join me in the chat to reflect on this time of solstice (from Latin, meaning literally, "the sun stands still").
Fig. 2. "Vintage Astronomy Illustrations (for Summer Solstice 2021)." Situated Magazine.
