May 13 - What a difference a week makes

In the first ten days of May, spring has just exploded. We went from temps in the 40s up to 83 today. Wow! And during this warm up, we have had torrential rain, incredible lightning and thunder storms and exponential plant growth. I know, this is what spring is all about, but it never fails to amaze me just how fast the world changes around you when it finally happens. In twelve days we have mowed the lawn three times. The lilacs have moved from tiny green leaf buds to full bloom. Even now the fragrance is pouring in through the window. It is a heady time of year.

Crabapple trees, pear and apple trees are all in full bloom along with ornamentals such as redbuds, weeping cherries, Cleveland pears, magnolias and dogwoods. And because this is such a late spring, there are many shrubs still blooming that would normally be long done—forsythia, azaleas and rhododendrons are adding to the show. It’s hard for me to drive to work when my head is swiveling on my neck as I try to take it all in.

My May garden show is spectacular. Right now I have several hundred daffodils in many color varieties and sizes. They are punctuated by bright orange fritillaria. The berm is a sea of blue forget-me-nots with tulips floating over the top. Golden poppies, blue mertensia and bleeding hearts all complement each other. The hostas are unfurling their tight spikes. Each day brings change and new beauty. Every day finds me looking about in awe. 

This year the bleeding hearts are just spectacular. I finally have them in a spot that makes them happy, and the flowers are the reward. Amazing what a bit more sun will do for a plant. And as usual, I can never see bleeding hearts without thinking of Grace Alder and how beautiful her long bank of hearts was.

I also love the pulmonarias. I have the Mrs Moon variety which has blue and pink flowers on the same plant, in the same floret. It is magic. It is also one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring which makes it even more welcome. In years past they have bloomed in late February or early March as the snow melts.

On Monday, I went to a Monks and Friars meeting in Ann Arbor, where Jim Horton lives on ten acres of woods. The trees had not yet leafed out, but the forest floor was covered in trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit. When I expressed my amazement to Jim, he promptly said “Let’s take a walk!” The four of us who had arrived early headed for the woods. Jim pointed out Cutleaf Toothwort. That was new to me! He also had lots of Mayapple, yellow violets, spring beauty, and trout lilies. What fun!

I had a major moment in establishing my credibility at this meeting. Some of us were downstairs in the shop where Jim was showing us his new Prouty, a mighty sweet press about the size of my Improved Pearl. He was telling us he hoped Joe Warren could come look at it because the ink disk wouldn’t cycle. In about two seconds Phil and I were behind and under the press looking at the mechanism. We were turning the flywheel, watching what was turning or not turning and trying different solutions. I finally realized that the collar holding the ink disk up was upside down. When I pointed this out, the guys were stunned. I got some high fives and some major points. It was great!  Now if I could do the same thing on my own problem press I’d feel even better.

Jim’s entire basement is a wholly dedicated print shop. He also has a greenhouse type addition to the house, where he has more equipment. It is a gorgeous space to work. Windows on three sides, plus the top. I could live that way.  But wait--I do, sort of. My shop in the backroom has windows running the length of two walls—I’m not looking out at woods, but still, it’s better than a basement. 

Today was Friday the 13th, and quite an auspicious day it turned out to be! After a day and a half of intense reorganization planning, my boss told us all to go home at noon. I was exhausted. It had been a hard week. Prepare for the reorg task force. Fly to Tulsa to meet with the CBA rep, get a 6am flight home in order to attend a meeting from 1:30 to 5:00 pm, then have two days of task force with the Cengage folks. Whew.

Got home and Jack and I took a little nap. Nicely refreshed we went off to the Yellow Stand and bought some tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, essential herbs like cilantro, basil and flat leaf parsley.  We've been buying plants there for years, and they know us quite well, so when our favorite gal saw I was buying a Sweet 100 tomato she talked me into getting a Sunsweet tomato as well. She guaranteed it would be sweeter and I'd like it better. The problem was they only came in four-packs. We may share a couple plants with the girls across the street. We got all the vegies planted. And Jack put in seeds for Sugar Snap peas, and purple and yellow wax beans. Yum. 

We also moved the last cement step from the middle of the yard and set it on top of the other one by the raised beds. It is now tall enough to be a perfect spot for a sit. Just one step was a little bit low, and made it really hard to stand back up.

Fully pooped, we quit and adjourned for dinner.  We still need to plant seeds for lettuce, spinach and chard. We are supposed to get rain tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. So those seeds might not get planted until Monday. No matter.