April Bows To Glorious May

May, what a delightful picturesque month, when the earth clothes itself with a variety of beautiful fragrant and colorful flowers. The pink cherry blossoms, as well as the white, along with the brilliant yellow forsythia dazzle the eye and causes one's heart to sigh with deep appreciation to the one who made it. Many songs and poems have been written and sung because of the enchanting beauty May inspires. Can you think of some?

How appropriate that "Frabjous Photo" has chosen flowers as the theme for this month's May blog. I am sure it will be an especially delightful and inspiring one.

Don't leave all your May flowers outside. wouldn't it be fun to have bowls of bloom about the house, even in the bathroom? How about using a prized cup that has lost it's saucer, or a seldom used teapot or a squatty little antique sugar bowl?

Floating blossoms are pretty, too, especially in unusual containers, perhaps a bon bon dish or any kind of funny bowl or tray.

For conventional arrangements, putting cut flowers in a vase, you can cut them on a slant with a sharp knife at a cool time of day, and then put them in tepid water (100 degrees) for about an hour before arranging them in a vase of cold water, you will find that they keep much longer.

It is of interest to note, in sixteenth century England the young at heart would rise before dawn on the first day of May and flock to the woods to gather blossoms. At sunrise they would return to the village to decorate a loved one's door and windows and the "Maypole", which was set up in the square. The choicest blooms were fashioned into a crown for the local beauty who was proclaimed Queen of May. Both of these traditions still survive in some form in contempory American life. While younger girls make flower baskets to leave at friends doors, their college-age sisters preserve the traditional crowning of the May Queen ceremony.

What is the meaning of May Day, Queen of May and the Maypole? This will be addressed at a future blog.

No sweeter words can fall on the human ear, than that May is finally here! Let us take note of the different flowers, and blossoms that appear during May, even the humble and prolific dandelion which many dislike and define as a weed, and yet the vitamin rich leaves are used in salads and the flowers to make the most delicious wine. You may want to think twice about removing them from your lawn.

Which flowers actually start the spring season, and which flowers do you delight to see? Here is a cute poem along these lines.

"Some will tell you crocuses are heralds true of spring
Others say that tulips showing buds are just the thing
Point to peonies, say when magnolia blossoms show
I look forward to the sight of other flowers though
Cultivate your roses, grow your orchids in the dark
Plant your posies row on row and stink up the whole park
The flower that's my favourite kind is found throughout the land
A wilting, yellow dandelion, clutched in a grubby hand."
- Larry Tilander, Springtime of My Soul

Also, remember this:

"The brightest and most enduring flowers along the waysides of life are smiles, the sparkle of the eye, loving words, acts of kindness---they never wholly fade from memory. Often after years they are brighter than on the day we first beheld them".
--E. Linton

Let all your joys be as the month of May!

This is Raven-as the crow flies