The outside story: Summer lights: It’s firefly season!

It happens on a warm June evening: in the darkening field near my house, I notice a brief flicker of light. Then another. And another.

I have often been stopped in my tracks by the sight of a white-tailed doe standing in the lush summer grass.

One of the first spring wildflowers you’ll see — perhaps even before the last shaded patches of snow disappear — is the violet. This common flower, which blooms from April through June, is widely known and easily identified. There is more than one violet, … (read more)

Lupine is one of the most spectacular flowers of early summer, painting long stretches of roadside with shades of purple and blue. Thanks to this tall, showy plant, even a stop-and-go drive to Boston’s Logan Airport has its moments of beauty (as I recentl … (read more)