"In the Month of May" by Robert Bly

 

23 May 2013

In the month of May when all leaves open,
I see when I walk how well all things
lean on each other, how the bees work,
the fish make their living the first day.
Monarchs fly high; then I understand
I love you with what in me is unfinished.

I love you with what in me is still
changing, what has no head or arms
or legs, what has not found its body.
And why shouldn’t the miraculous,
caught on this earth, visit
the old man alone in his hut?

And why shouldn’t Gabriel, who loves honey,
be fed with our own radishes and walnuts?
And lovers, tough ones, how many there are
whose holy bodies are not yet born.
Along the roads, I see so many places
I would like us to spend the night.

A Canadian Cottage Garden

 On May 5, 2024: rain all day; +10 C. this afternoon.

It’s taken over ten years for this lilac bush to recover from being cut down to the ground,
but here it is with many blooms; now 15 feet tall.

Day lilies, hydrangeas, and hostas.

Hostas coming up…

It was a mild winter but lots of rain, muddy and the grass has died here.

Hosta

The sumac on the left self seeded about three years ago.

A spring day, 28 March in 2013 and 2024

 

Winter is too long here in Montreal. It's almost April and the snow has just melted, some plants are beginning to grow; spring has arrived but it feels like winter is still here. One month less of this would be perfect. Top photos taken in 2013, bottom photos this year on 27 March 2024:

A Canadian Cottage Garden on 14 March 2024

It’s been a very mild winter and spring will soon be here; so far, among other things, I’ve seen many Canada geese in their V-formation, cardinals singing in the early morning just before sunrise, and crows looking down at us from telephone wires. I’ve already raked the front lawn and done some work in the backyard before we had some snow a few days ago. Soon garden centres will be open and we’ll begin planting this year’s garden.  14 March 2024

The garden, early May

It was Coronation Day, 6 May 2023, and the garden was coming to life. After a lot of rain and cold in April the sun was bright and the sky blue, birds had returned to the bird bath, hostas and ferns were growing fast. Trees were turning green, the lilac bush was ready to flower.

There isn't much to the garden this early in spring but it is coming back to life. After months of cold, short days, snow, and more or less being housebound, spring had returned to Montreal. I've already planted six new hostas (and I'll plant another six next week) and we now have a second bird bath. It looks like we'll have a nice garden this year!

The fence has enclosed the garden and I've begun planting a second row of hostas

That bench is sixty years old but still in good condition, I look forward 
to sitting outside on it and getting a different view of the garden

A new, second bird bath

More ferns than ever this year

Return of the crows

Summery weather has arrived, early this year, it's been +20 - +25 C since last Friday, and I've been outside raking the grass of last winter's debris; litter, dirt, twigs, some fast food wrappings, all of it collected in the snow over the last four or five months of winter. Fresh air, blue sky, birds singing, plants coming up, buds on trees and bushes, and a feeling of renewal, and genuine renewal, and how quickly we forget what we've just been through: a long winter, short days, heating bills. One of the first things I did when this good weather arrived was put water in the bird bath and almost right away there was a crow visiting, usually in the morning. Perhaps this is the time, in the spring, when crows visit the most, not only for a drink of water but to soak their food in water, and after they leave there are peculiar white stringy things they've found in the garbage at a local Chinese restaurant. Later there will be more birds at the bird bath; however, crows are always welcome and are certainly entertaining. 

Photos taken from our dining room window with an IPhone.

Added photos

The garden on April 4th, 2023

It's April 4th today and the snow is still here, but rain is forecast and perhaps by later this week the snow will have melted. Our gardening season is short here, it's from May to October. Winter is from January to the end of March and then overlaps into April, and then it is still cold but at least the snow is melting. May 1st comes suddenly and people begin installing their window air conditioning units; at last we can open the windows and turn off the furnace. Here, we all listen to daily weather forecasts, and we wait for this cold weather to end. 

In the sun the snow has already melted

Tulips are already coming up

This is a hollyhock coming up

In the sun, where plants are protected and the
snow has melted, tulips are beginning to grow

Last day of spring, first day of summer 2022

Here is my garden over the last week or ten days, as seen on these last days of spring, 2022. 

In summer let the flowers bloom!

These are miniature irises

A bird bath is a great addition in any garden

A border of hostas I planted last fall have excelled my expectations!

Hosta

Foxglove

On the left is a sumac that self-planted about two years ago

Foxglove I planted this spring, doing better than
foxglove planted two years ago