Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day if you are a mother. If not, do something nice for your mother today. You'll understand how much it is appreciated when you become a mother or a father.

My iris disappointed me this year. Normally they are in bloom on Mother's Day. This year they are just now developing buds. It must be because of the cool weather we have had all spring. Most of the iris came with the house. I found a large clump of pale lavender iris growing under one of the rosebushes. I dug it up and distributed it all over. No matter where I planted it, it was happy and increased annually. A fellow gardener gave me some iris that came with his house so now I also have some red iris, yellow iris and white iris. I also added some Japanese iris and Siberian iris which bloom later in the spring. But what stands out is the innumerable pale lavender irises.

I treated myself to a new birdbath for Mother's Day. More accurately, a new bowl for my birdbath. Mine had cracked over the winter, but the pedestal is fine. I was fortunate enough to find a garden center that allowed me to purchase just the bowl instead of an entire set. I'm not sure who enjoys the birdbath more, me or the birds. It's in a corner of my yard in the shade garden, nice and cool in the summer. I love watching the birds line up on the fence, patiently waiting their turn to hop into the birdbath and splash around.

I have been less amused with them this week. The day after I had planted the New World garden, I discovered the birds and probably also the squirrels had dug up and eaten most, if not all, of the sunflower and pumkin seeds leaving just the husks as evidence of their pilferage. I'm hoping they missed a few. That's all I really need is just a few. Then I watched in horror each day as I went into the house after working all day and the birds promptly settled in to eat all of the flower seeds that I had just planted. Even birds who are not normally ground feeders were feasting on what to them must have been a marvelous buffet. With my luck, they are telling all of their friends: "psst . . . all you can eat . . . Middlesex . . . pass it on". Now I understand the extremely poor germination rate I experience with a lot of the seeds I plant. They have been eaten.

No rain at all this weekend despite the predictions. I even tried getting my car washed sure that that would guarantee a downpour but the weather gods must be upset with me and didn't send any badly needed rain.