There will come a point this summer when the phenomenon of “cooler by the lake” will provide a welcomed reprieve. But for now, when downtown Chicago can’t seem to string together two 70-plus days in a row, it’s not of great comfort.

Meanwhile my sprouts are outside fending for themselves over the cool nights and variably cloudy days. All the rain of late has washed away some of their identifying labels, so figuring out what’s what is going to be a challenge.

Oh well, I never promised you a rose garden. However, I do have a progress report on the projects started inside — plus some new plants and a very chic garden tool — to share with you:

1. The lettuce I’ve been growing inside on a windowsill is overdue for harvesting. (I don’t think it’s supposed to look like a hanging plant.) So, it’ll get snipped down and become salad this weekend.

2. I picked up a fun little yellow marigold that I liked because it looked as though it was edged in green. It’s a subtlety that lends a unique aspect to a common garden flower. I place marigolds in the planters with my herbs and nasturtiums because they, too, are edible.

3. My friend Maureen, who always manages to pick the perfect present, gifted me with a pair of lovely garden secateurs covered in a William Morris chintz pattern and produced in conjunction with the Victoria and Albert Museum. I’ve already used them to snip the dead blooms off my French lavender and they should come in super handy when nipping those thick, end-of-summer stems on a thriving basil plant. (Check the Wild & Wolf site for contact numbers for distributors of the pruning tool in the UK, US or Canada.)

4. This annual with blueish purple blooms caught my eye, but wasn’t tagged with plant name or instructions. Let’s hope it likes full sun. Does anyone recognize it?

5. My sweet potato vine project seems to be coming along. The small leaves on the sprouts seem to be getting larger and looking more green than purple. I’m guessing that’s a good sign…