THE FLOWERS OF MAY

Without a doubt May is my favourite month. May is warm but not too warm, the trees are in full leaf while still retaining the vivid greenness of new growth and it the garden new flowers open daily. Today the air was heady with the scent of newly opened Elder flowers and the sweet smelling exotic looking Bird Cherry. Across a rustic arch in the vegetable garden a large Dog Rose is flowering profusely side by side with a pretty pink Sweet Briar, these will in the Autumn provide both myself and the local song birds with a wonderful supply of Rose hips, at the moment the bees are delighting in the abundant source of pollen which is their summer bounty..

Everything is growing well after the rain and I am spared the task of watering for a day or two. The flower border is playing host to some Red Campion which is, strictly speaking a weed, I find it much too pretty to pull up and O admit to encouraging the small clumps to spread. The seed heads of this plant provide a valuable source of shelter for small insects during the winter months and I always leave the dead stalks standing over winter.

White Dog Daisies jostle with white and purple Phlox, Forget-me-nots,Scabious and Sweet William, cottage garden plants for centuries. Foxgloves rub shoulders with Cat-mint, Veronica and the tall purple Allium. The Cat-mint is of course Twiggy,s own special favourite and at least once a day it the weather is sunny she will eat a leaf or two or even roll on the plant and for the next half hour her antics are strange indeed. She becomes rather silly rolling from side to side ans squirming about in a kind of ecstasy. Later she becomes dreamy and on occasion even falls asleep on her back with her paws in the air. I am convinced that this plant is the feline equivalent of a spliff, at least the effect seems much the same from an observers point of view.

Have taken my courage in both hands and planted out all the squash, pumpkin and courgette plants and can now only pray that we have no more frost, tome alone will tell if I have done the right thing.
Tomorrow my son begins a three weeks holiday and we are all ready for a proper break. He came back from Portsmouth absolutely shattered , I can only wonder what they got up to, it is better not to enquire I think! This time he will be at home for the first and last week and on the island of Sark in the middle week. The island is, by all accounts very quiet so I hope that he will return rested.
Next week I shall be ironing his togs and packing his case with an eye to the weight restrictions, he will have to leave the kitchen sink behind this trip!

For tonight I am enjoying the feeling of holidays, the weeks stretching ahead full of sunshine and leisure......well sunshine at least. I am just grateful that we shall have time to enjoy each others company without the usual constraints of working ours and set meal times to interfere with the fun.
Good night and stay safe.