Arty chokes

Our artichokes are getting ready to open. I can see traces of the deep blue flowers poking through. Only one of our two remaining plants has produced chokes this year. Earlier in the spring they were both attacked by aphids. I used some soap to get rid of them and it worked, but the smaller plant didn't recover very well from the insect damage.

I took this picture before the blue started to show.

This past week has been, as I've been saying, chilly and wet. No fun at all, although we needed the rain. The central heat actually came on Saturday morning, which means that the indoor temperature got below 65ºF. Ugh. Our American guests were very lucky to be in France during the June heat wave. Nothing puts the damper on a summer vacation like rain and cold temperatures. But there is hope for us: the weather people are predicting another warm up this coming week. I hope they're right!