SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

The end of May always brings surprises and not all are good. For instance, there is the shock of finding a big clump of shasta daisies has disappeared over the winter. Of course it might have migrated and could be close by. The concept of migrating plants is unknown to southerners but it happens in the north.. We know that rocks move in the winter, and new rocks appear, and houses, sheds and fences shift and so it makes sense that plants migrate too. I once had a lily move over a few inches to land up tucked against a peony. For some reason, a large allium is growing in the back of the veggie garden, four feet from where it was planted.

But there have been winter losses. Only one columbine came back from the cold. Four or five others did not make it. I cut off a third of a cedar bush, unalterably dead. The daphne struggles on.

But good things happen as well. Today, not only did the evening grosbeaks show up again but American goldfinches, like yellow ping pong balls, arrived and bounced around the garden. However, the greatest surprise was the appearance of a hermit thrush slipping out from behind a rose bush to take a drink.

Another wonderful surprise was the hot weather. I went from bush jacket to sweats to long sleeved shirt. This is as good a time as any to remind gardeners to use sunscreen. Keep the container by the back door to remind you to put it on every time you go out to do garden work. It is no fun at all to have pre-cancerous lesions burned from your face. That is the kind of surprise you really, really want to avoid.