When I was young, I could not get enough of that lily-of-the-valley smell! In Poland, bunches of these flowers with their stiff green leaves and dainty white blossoms appeared on street corner flower stands. Old women would bring them in from the countryside and sell them to you for small change. I thought the scent was incredible! So much so that I rushed to buy some muguet des bois perfume when I first spotted it as a young adult, only to be deeply disappointed. Perfume, even with that familiar fresh scent, cannot take the place of the real thing. Bringing a flower to your face is heaven. Spraying scented water on yourself may be pleasant, but it's not heaven.
It was no surprise that when I first moved to a house with a shady space for a garden, putting in some lilies of the valley was a priority. What a mistake! These flowers are harbingers of a beautiful growing season, but they are also extremely invasive. They will find their way from one side of your garden to the next, creeping between dense grasses and vines to get there.
Still, the farmette lands are vast enough that there is room for them here and though I myself did not plant them, they have been growing abundantly in several shady spots. Picking them for the table is always such a joy!
(I do this right after my morning walk.)
(There, lilies at the breakfast table.)
Sparrow comes over right after the morning meal.
I lead him to the most fragrant corners of the garden and encourage him to smell a lilac stem.
"Yuk," he tells me. The little guy is a huge tease. He knows how to get your attention!
After I take him home, I spend some time at my mom's place again. She needs adjustments to just about everything. Her medication regiment. Her furniture. Her food supplies. We sort through some of this stuff today.
Afternoon: I should work on my outdoor flower beds. Tomorrow the trees are coming and Ed will really need my help with those. But I need a pause. And I get one! A Zoom call with my Polish friend is like a coffee date in Cafe Finca, only without the coffee and without the El Salvadorian ambience.
The day goes by way too quickly. I do get some outdoor work done, but I find myself looking up at one point and wondering how on earth it could be dinner time already.
Never mind. Dinner can be late. Indeed, dinner can be very very late. Mid spring allows you to jiggle the clock a little. To move things around so that you can enjoy every warm weather minute of the day outside.
