The Gift of Spring

Sometime back in May, we asked for photos of what was blooming in your garden. Several of you did send pictures. This spring, in the view from my sun porch where my husband and I have again returned after this long winter, we have a very old wisteria vine that we now have propped up with a board because it is so heavy. It bends down to say hello to the very old azaleas that line the front of our house. We have been in our house for 44 years and both the azaleas and the wisteria came with the house.

Like my fig trees, many of you may have had your fig trees hit hard this winter. I now have plenty of growth coming up from the root. Too late for figs, but glad this old family fig tree is making a comeback. In this past week’s Metropolitan section of the Sunday New York Times, there is a long article describing the loss of fig trees in Brooklyn, NY. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden lost 4 of their 17 fig trees and the remaining trees were pruned to the ground. Read the article because you will feel the pain of so many losing their backyard fig trees.

Here are photos from members as a gift to you. I want to comment on a couple. Sylvia Gage sent us photos of her tree peony and said in a note, “I have been a member of the GARDENERS for almost 27 years. This tree moved with me as a baby from Haverford PA to Our farm in Charlottesville, Va. It has been dug up and moved many times; however the Tree Peony is way to big to move again so I will enjoy the beautiful 8 to 10 inch flowers while I still can.”

I asked Michele Spence about her nearly 8 ft-tall lily. She said someone gave her a plant as a gift and this is what it turned into. Beautiful. Some of you may have toured Gail Gillespie’s property to see her azaleas. Really spectacular. Enjoy also the lovely specimens from our other gardeners displaying their May beauty. Thank you all. Enjoy!