April Showers and May Flowers

The last week of April started out like an apology for all the other weeks of miserable weather the month afflicted on us. We had wonderful spring weather. It was warm. It was sunny. Even when it rained midweek, it was a nice spring rain, those legendary April Showers that promise to bring May Flowers. On Wednesday evening we had a thunderstorm, an hour of thunder, nothing severe, and then rain all night. I went out on the front porch to listen to the thunder and the rain on the porch roof. The air was sweet with the smell of rain. The peepers were singing at full volume. It made me happy. But April couldn’t let a good thing last too long. The month began with snow back on April Fools Day and, as a cruel parting shot, the weather turned cold again on the last day of the month. By dinnertime on Friday, the rain that had been falling almost nonstop since Wednesday night turned into snow yet again. It didn’t stick much, just a crusty smattering in places, but the thermometer dropped to 28° that night. The first morning of May greeted me with a frozen garden. I knew it was coming and I tried to protect whatever I could. My main concern was the lilies that had survived the last freeze. I put buckets over them, hoping to shield them from the cold. I can’t assess the damage yet. They don’t look too bad, but then they often don’t – they just don’t grow any taller and they don’t bloom. The cold doesn’t seem to have hurt the orchard. I went out and inspected the fruit trees. Every tree is loaded with buds. I’m praying for a good apple harvest this year. The snow didn’t last long after sunrise and the weather has warmed up since then. I hope we’re done with cold and snow at last. I’ve been saying that for weeks now.

The morning of May 1st.

The morning of May 1st.

I’ve been complaining a lot that spring was late this year, that winter had lingered longer than usual, but looking back through photographs last week, I realized that it isn’t so. We are about where we usually are at the first of May. Some years we are further along than this with the maples leafed out and the apple trees and lilacs in bloom on May first, but not often. Last year we were not this far along at this point. On May first last year, the daffodils were just starting to bloom. I just get so anxious for the growing season to begin that I forget how variable the seasons can be here. Right now the maples are in bloom and their first tiny leaves are unfurling. The apples and lilacs are in bud and will start to bloom in a week or so. My plum tree is in bloom. May is a delightful month with spring finally in full stride. At least in the years when its not still snowing.

Apple blossom buds.

My plum tree.

Lilac buds.

I accomplished much in the garden during the good days last week. I dug a new flower bed along the front and side of the new front porch. On the shady north facing part I will plant hostas. They don’t mind the shade. On the east facing side I planted pansies and violas. I also tilled parts of the vegetable garden. And I planted a lot of seeds in other flowerbeds – things that don’t like to be transplanted and must be sown directly – cornflowers, nigella, poppies, and hollyhocks. I moved trays of seedlings from the upstairs bay window to the back porch and the greenhouse to begin their hardening off phase before Planting Out Day at the end of the month. And, of course, I weeded. From now on, every day except the Sabbath I will try to spend some time weeding. It’s the only way I can keep the weeds from taking over everything.

The newly dug flowerbed.

Planted with pansies and violas.

Despite the attempts of winter to thwart the spring, the birds have begun nesting. Last year a pair of robins decided to build a nest on the power cable that runs under the eaves of the back porch. It wasn’t a good spot. There was no purchase for their nesting materials. They kept bringing mud and grass and it kept falling, smearing all over the side of the house and the windows of the porch and piling up in the flowerbed below. I tried to discourage them, but they were very persistent, so I gave in and put up a little shelf for them. They built a nest on it and raised two families there over the spring and summer. But it still wasn’t a good place. Every time we came out the back porch door, they would fly off the nest and fuss at us. I should have taken the shelf down over the winter, but I didn’t and now the robins are back again this year, reusing their old nest, flying and fussing again. I don’t mind it too much. The female has already laid eggs. The male sits in the linden tree across the driveway and sings in the mornings and evenings and I love that.

The nest of the shelf (you can see that I need to do some repairing and painting on the back porch).

The male robin in the linden tree.

All sorts of fair weather birds have arrived. We’ve had evening grosbeaks at the feeders off and on for a few weeks now. And last week there was an eastern towhee. We saw our first orioles on Wednesday, a male and female, at our feeders and in the orchard. The male is unbelievably bright. I hope they nest nearby. Yesterday the first rose-breasted grosbeak arrived at the feeders. All day long now I hear a brown thrasher singing its crazy and charming song from the thorn tree thickets across the road. I saw tree swallows out in the orchard a few weeks ago, but only for one day and never again. Perhaps they retreated south again to wait for more stable weather. We haven’t seen any hummingbirds yet.

Rose-breasted grosbeak.

I love the month of May for many reasons. It is the month where the garden shifts from the early spring flowers to the later spring flowers. The daffodils and muscari are at their peak now. I love all their varieties. Now the lawn is bright with dandelions and violets. May is also a big month for our family. There are eleven birthdays and three anniversaries in May.

Different daffodils in my garden (and one in Shillig's in the middle).

One of several patches of muscari.

A field of dandelions.

Violets in the lawn.

Our local nurseries opened yesterday and we went on an excursion to see what was available. We came home with the pansies and violas that I planted out front, a flat of marigolds, two hanging plants, a fuschia and an impatient, for the front porch and some other things. No one had vegetables out yet. That was the first of what will be many visits to nurseries over the next weeks.

Our haul from the nurseries.

The weather (after the snow melted) was lovely yesterday. It warmed into the 50's. It was sunny and breezy. We spent almost the whole day working in the yard. I mowed the lawn for the second time this year. The big project we worked on was the pond. Stacey, Hannah, and Miriam did most of the work. They smoothed out the banks around it and finished the edge with stones. We’re ready now to begin landscaping around it and to introduce water lilies and fish.

Working on the pond.

Almost done.

Today, being the first Sunday of the month, is Fast Sunday. We began our fast yesterday. Fasting is a commandment from the Lord where we humble ourselves before Him by voluntarily refraining from eating and drinking. We know that fasting, coupled with prayer, is powerful. We are fasting for several things this time. My father is having surgery this week and we fasted to ask God for blessings for him. We also fasted to ask a special blessing for Rachel and her family. Rachel has had terrible tinnitus for several years. They finally discovered a small benign tumor on the auditory nerve in her left ear. She is going to have surgery on the 11th to have it removed. It is a lengthy surgery and her recovery time will take several weeks. Because this was Fast Sunday, we had Fast and Testimony Meeting at church today.  Now we are home. We will break our fast in a little while. We’re having lasagna and garlic bread sticks. It smells wonderful.

The week ahead looks a little rainy, but not cold. The rain and the warmth will be a blessing for the garden and the fruit trees. I will do what work I can and enjoy the beauty of the month of May.

At the end of the day on Saturday.

Dan