 May
dawns cool and fair, and the sweet woodruff renews itself and scents
the air with the wonderful aroma of new-mown hay. Its delicate blossoms
mark our May Days year after year, always beckoning us to stop and
enjoy the springtime. The bleeding heart is still going strong, the
biggest and most vigorous we've ever seen. Usually its bloom is done
by now, but even at the end of May it is as beautiful as ever and shows
no sign of stopping. It has grown to a height of four feet, and is almost
seven feet across. Purple bearded iris and rock iris also make an appearance.
Our Garden Journal is a production of The Parker Family. Copyright 1999, all rights reserved. |
We
are thrilled to have goldfinches visiting our birdfeeders this month;
what a treat these little streaks of sunshine are! The thistle seed
attracts them, and they join the ever-present purple finches each
morning as we watch from our breakfast table. Chipmunks scurry around
below the feeders, fighting over the safflower seeds that fall from above.
When
we first moved to this house almost seven years ago, we brought with
us several plants for our memory garden. One was a lilac bush from
a friend, which has never bloomed before this year. Taking out an
overgrown oak that blocked its sunlight seems to have done the trick,
and for the first time we have lovely blossoms and the heavenly scent
for which lilac is famous. Ferns transplanted to the hillside are coming
up nicely, though another new addition, a rhododendron in the rear
foundation planting, doesn't fare as well and has to be replaced. Yellow
sedum and black-eyed susans are added to the hillside this month also.
It was wonderful
to plant our vegetable garden this year, after such a long struggle to eke
out a level patch of ground for it. We harvested our first tender lettuces
and spinach, and made wonderful salads from them, which thrilled the kids.
We added corn, cucumbers, beans, and sunflowers this month, and moved one of
the park benches up to the edge of the vegetable garden, too. No sooner had
we done that, than the enemy appeared.... and ate up all of our lettuce!
Here she is, surveying the peonies.