THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY

     I have always heard the term the "Merry Month of May". I've never thought much about it. To me it seemed like just an expression. The expression didn't apply to my world. Why should I consider it? In many years here, May is not a merry month. We still get some cold and nasty weather. There are few flowers that bloom. Right now the only flower I have is the blue bell.

    So finally after 86 times with Merry Month of May I decided to look into it. Is there some deeper meaning than just a catchy phrase.?

    Well I was surprised to see that there are many famous references to the Merry Month of May. There are poems. Thomas Dekker's poem is well known. There are popular songs by Stephen Foster and Nelson Eddy.

    I was looking for a special celebration of the day. The only thing I can find is the making and exchange of home made baskets that are exchanged with friends. 

    Oh yes,  there  are merry month of M cross  word puzzles.

    However, I do like the term and the pleasant thoughts that go with it. I'm glad I looked it up.

   

SPRING

       We had a very short spring this year. April was cold and frosty. When May  got hot and we had a couple of very hot spells. It was dry last summer and also the winter. So with very dry conditions you know what happened. We had some major forest fires. You know because many people suffered with the smoke from our fires. We still have about 60 wildfires and 10000 people away from their homes and farms. 

      Today's sunrise was 5:19 AM and sunset at 9:48 PM That means we had 16 hours and 29 minutes of daylight. With the long days our plants advance and mature quickly. My blue bells matured and now are going into dormancy. The bleeding heart is almost finished blooming. Some peonies are blooming. Irises are just ready to pop open. My tiger lilies are ready to burst into bloom. 

     So spring weather may have been  rather short but I'll take May's fine weather. So far June has been nice but not too hot. I've got my tomatoes planted so I'm ready for summer. 

NOT ORGANIZED

     Well, my blogging head is still not organized to put on some decent posts. My head is some where else . I've found this summer very busy. It's been a very windy spring and outside work has got behind. 

     Now my first tiger lily popped into bloom today. I see that I got a poor photo of it. The other flower photos are for people to identify and I promise this time I will write the names down.

JULY FLOWERS

     There are many bloggers who post about their gardens and blooms. Some are very specialized gardeners and their hobby and life is gardening. Their blogs are interesting, informative and colorful. Other bloggers report from time to time to show how things are progressing.

    Some bloggers I follow start posting in February. I have to wait until June before I show any blooms.

     I am a gardener but not a keener. I look after things well in my yard. I maintain what I have and don't add anything. I'm a safe gardener. Don't take any chances. Do what works.

     However, once things get going here we do have some colorful blooms. So here are a couple of things from my yard.

     Now tiger lilies are one of my favorites ...more so if they are native plants.

I've Got Flowers

      I've been watching posts of flowers for months now. My flowers have finally come into bloom. Now I know you've seen these flowers before. I know you know what they look like. But I just wanted to show you that it finally happened here. We are late but at this time of the year we have long days so plants advance rapidly.