Colors And Scents Are Back

Summer will be here in two weeks and I can feel the heat in the air already.   One day the temperature was hovering below 50º F and I had to wear a sweatshirt in the garden.  The plants just stalled in their growth.  The next day it hit 80º F and even wearing just a t-shirt it was too hot, but plants were shooting up all over the place.   As much as there is an endless list of things to do at this time of year and never enough hours in the day, I still love this time of year the most.  Life has renewed itself in the garden.  There are some disappointments of course here and there.  The Wisteria has only  a few flowers, not a lovely waterfall of flowers as it did in years past.  Clematis Montana and Lilac, both the common one and ‘Miss Kim’ blossomed less than usual.   The Hydrangea has taken its time to sprout, coming up from the base so I don’t expect any flowers this year and I don’t see any new buds on the old branches yet either.  They’re probably still struggling to shrug of winter.

Even with less flowers so far this year there’s still plenty of color and scent in the garden.  The Columbine has never ceased to amaze me.  This year there are more and more new colors and forms that I know I didn’t plant.  Since I let birds and bees do the pollination, it’s always a surprise.  It’s also a good year for irises.

Watering the vegetables a in the morning is a lovely time to be in the garden, with lovely scent wafting in the air and birds singing.   This is the time of year that no matter how late I get home, I make it a point to go out into the garden and breath in the perfumed air while listening to the crickets and peepers performing their nocturne.