May display pink

 A bouquet of peonies

“For every marriage then 

is best in tune, 

When that the wife is May, 

the husband June.” 

~ Rowland Watkyns

May display blue

Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans in bloom

"Green is the fresh emblem 

of well founded hopes.  

In blue the spirit can wander, 

but in green it can rest."

~  Mary Webb

May display today

Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’
(an heirloom hybrid from the late 1800’s)

“Another May new buds 

and flowers shall bring: 

Ah! why has happiness 

no second Spring?”

~ Charlotte Smith

May today

"The world's favorite season 

is the spring.
All things seem possible in May."

~  Edwin Way Teale

1899-1980

click on his name to learn more

Hey, it's May

Ferns unfurling in the woods (click on the photo)

"Every spring is the only spring ―

a perpetual astonishment."

~ Ellis Peters

The green stairway

For me, May is a month to savor. Tender green leaves unfurl with possibility and the woods echo with birdsong. After a nearly snow-less winter and a scary spell of drought in early spring, we've had several periods of rainy and cool weather. Now everything is vivid, emerald green. 

Thankfully, the rains have also replenished vernal pools and are bringing rivers and streams up to more normal levels. It's a blessing pollen-wise as well.

Recently, I followed a 10-mile trail into the woods. The stairway leading down to this section of the trail brings you “into the green.”

Just like May: Tazetta

Tazzie was loaded with personality

Much as I love May, it is also a bittersweet month because two beloved cats were born and died then. In remembering Tazzie, I realize that forgetting her is impossible.

I once wrote that if a cat could be a season, then Tazzie was spring. I named her after a species of sweetly scented orange narcissus. 

Nine years have passed since she died on a morning in May. I am so glad she had a chance to sit in the sun and listen to the birds one last time.

You can read more about Tazetta in a post written on May 14th in the 2009 archives.  Click on the photos for a better view.

Like May, Tazzie is an emblem of all that is soft, warm and sweet.  May she rest in peace. 

Three Years On

Remembering Rachmaninoff on his birthday

The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and 

irretrievably lost.     

~  Arthur Schopenhauer

Faire fresh May

'President Lincoln' (Syringa vulgaris)

"With all they flowres and thy green, 

welcome be thou, faire freshe May."

~ Geoffrey Chaucer

The President Lincoln lilac was introduced in 1916 by John Dunbar (1859-1927), assistant superintendent of parks and founder of the Highland Park lilac collection in Rochester, NY. ‘President Lincoln’ has a single medium blue flower, which is quite fragrant. With it's Wedgwood blue color, 'President Lincoln' is often called the truest blue lilac. Click on the image above.