I took a walk around the garden yesterday to see how things are coming along. I’m always interested in whether or not the flowers are “on time” though I mostly have to guess because I seldom remember from year to year.
For sure the honeysuckle is right on schedule. I know that because I can always count on bouquets of those sweet-smelling blossoms to place in the church for our first Vespers service, usually on Father’s Day. They don’t make the showiest of bouquets, but their fragrance seems nostalgic and old-fashioned, just like the building. I already have a few bowls of them in the house and the scent is heavenly, especially in the evening and early morning.
On my walk-about, I noticed that the first York roses are in bloom – a little later than usual, I think, but looking healthier than they have for several years. For thirty or forty years they have thrived (more-or-less, but mostly less for the last decade) in one of the center garden beds. Much to my distress, they have been gradually choked out by Shasta daisies and day lilies so Nyel moved a half dozen plants a few years back and put them in gigantic wooden tubs. They now seem much happier, thank goodness!
I wish we could do as much for Nyel’s peonies. He remembers peonies (he says “pee-own-ies”; I say pee- a-nies) from his grandmother’s garden in Idaho. They were always ready to take up to the cemetery on Decoration Day. Ours are just budding out by then and usually fall off the stems before they blossom fully. Theresa at the Planter Box said to put ice around them during the winter months, especially if it was a warm winter.
I have to say that ‘icing the peonies’ was one of those things that quickly fell off the memory radar. We thought a about it three or four times and that was it. Even so, the flowers have fully bloomed, though not in time for Memorial Day. And, sadly, the stems are so weak that the blossoms are lying on the ground. More ice next year? Some special kind of fertilizer? What?
All-in-all, the garden is looking pretty good. The tiger lilies are about to burst forth; the Oriental poppies are blooming brightly; the apples on William’s Pride need thinning. Now, if the weather holds, we can set up the croquet court and have a picnic or two! We’re definitely ready for summer here in Oysterville!
What a delight to virtually stroll around your garden with you, Sydney, and even more delightful for you to feel up to it. I cannot wait to do it for real!