MAY DRESSED IN HER FINERY

It’s May, the queen of all the months, who assumes her reign amid colorful blossoms and shades of green. Above, in the blue sky, the merry warm sun dips down to awaken the daffodils, violets, bursting buds, and earthy grasses. Spring rains softly blanket the deciduous trees unfolding their delicate leaves while above in the branches, birds chatter, scold, and sing.

I always think of May as the beginning of summer, despite the real date of June 20^th. It’s the time when we shed our coats and head outside. Around us, the soft breeze carries the fresh scent of blooming flowers and wet earth. At nightfall in the northern regions, we always get the joyous sound of spring peepers calling out from the wetlands.

Every year, my husband and I tell each other that we’re going to cut back on the flowers we are going to buy, hang, display, or plant.  It’s a pointless threat. The other day, we went on our yearly search of four ferns to hang on the patio, along with other potted plants and flowers to make the area more colorful and cozier. We arrived home with more than enough sunlight to glance at the vacant beds we also plant with annual flowers and chuckled. We know we’ll be scouring the greenhouses for more vegetation.   

May is also the time we take the time to visit the Memorial Day services at Historic Crown Crest Cemetery in Central Pennsylvania where the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) take turns each year having a ceremony in honor and memory of all those who served and are no longer with us. I am part of a four-generation military family with my husband and son having served, and my husband’s late grandfather and late father also having served. It’s a chilling and heartbreaking sensation to stand in the cemetery and see the rows and rows of American flags flying from the graves of those who have served at one time in their lives. 

As we move through the month of May, named after the Greek Goddess Maia who symbolizes nature and growing plants, let’s bask in her finery, the warmth of the weather, and the rejuvenation of the living world around us.  

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Fiddleheads are Finally Popping

You can’t tell by the weather in rainy cold Central Pennsylvania, but there are signs that spring may be late—but is just around the corner. There are buds on the lilacs, the daffodils and grape hyacinths have bloomed, the lawns are becoming lush, the birds are singing, and the fiddleheads are popping up. You can always depend on the ferns to make you believe that the color green is just about to explode all over the countryside.

It’s believed the first ferns appeared in fossil records 360 million years ago in the Devonian period, but many of the current species didn’t appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous period, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. Throughout history, ferns have been popular in medicine, art, mythology, landscaping, flower design and more.

Ferns do not have seeds or flowers, but reproduce by spores. There are about 12,000 varieties  worldwide, and fern is derived from Old English fear, meaning “fern,” a type of leafy plant. Flower and plant names were popular in the 19th century and the name was first used then.

For various cultures, the fern is thought to symbolize discretion, confidence, fascination, reverie, the secret bond of love, and magic.

I’m hoping my fiddleheads are magical. I’m hoping they’ll grow fast and tall.

And I’m hoping they’ll finally usher in a warm, colorful spring.

 
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