In the Garden: May 2005 Archives

I was driving home last Thursday, and came around the corner onto the street where we live. There are subdividion signs on either side of that corner, and the landscapers had decorated them with banks of yellow tulips.

It has been incredibly windy for the past few days, and the tulips on the north side of the street had been totally stripped of their blooms. Those on the south side had a six foot block sign protecting them from the wind, and were still blooming.

As we traveled to Iowa and back, we saw similar examples of the wind's power. I'm ready for that part where "April sighed, and said goodbye, and along came pretty little May!"

I suppose that telling you I was on my hands and knees for more than five hours yesterday may create an unfortunate image in your mind, but it brought me a lot of satisfaction. It was a glorious day, and I spent that time weeding!

In just two weeks our Red Hat Society ladies will be coming for a brunch. I've started making lists mentally of what has to be done before they troop up the sidewalk. Of course, part of that has to be the preparation of the gardens.

The apple trees, and pear trees have been beautiful this year, covered with masses of blossoms. We had quite a heat spell early in April, but the last 10 days of the month it's been unusually cool. The tulips are gorgeous, and the lilacs have been holding their bloom unusually long.

Today, the wind is whipping the fruit trees, and we have petal snow.

I noticed, as we returned home today that the lilies of the valley under the birch trees have materialized! I think they must be easily six to eight inches tall, and there was no sign of them a few days ago.