40 Days and 40 Nights

I don't care what the calendar says. This first Columbine bloom of the season is the official start to my summer.

Oh, thank God! I thought to myself ~ as I peered out the kitchen window at bright sunshine. A glimmer of hope in this grey, dreary, overly saturated spring.

More first blossoms: Johnson's Blue Geranium peeks out from behind lush foliage.

My joy was short-lived. The coffee hadn't finished brewing when dark clouds blocked out the happy sun and another deluge was upon us.

It's a toss up, I suppose. The scent of fresh Lilacs is intoxicating but the cheery pink blossoms of Flowering Almond are pretty irresistible, too.

I guess it really didn't matter if it rained this weekend ~ which it did, as it has done for as long as I can remember.* And, will do for as long as Google can predict.

Because I was stuck behind closed doors in what could easily go down in history as the most depressing sales meeting I have ever attended.

And, I'm not even in sales.

So, just imagine how the sales reps felt.

Alliums standing tall
(Haze, if you're reading this, these are the ones I thought were tulips when you were visiting! Dang. I can't get anything right.

As a freelancer, I work with all sorts of companies. Some are sweet. Some are mean. This company is by far the hardest ~ for the most childish of reasons. They don't like me. They really don't! I don't know why they don't like me. I'm kind of nice...

Mom's Wild Roses are going hog wild.

As I sat there for hours and hours and hours, I tried to earn my keep by offering up [what I thought was] one good idea after another. They kept looking at me like I was the village idiot. At one point I actually went into the ladies room and sort of sniffed my shirt to see if, perhaps, I smelled really bad or something.

Non-stop Tulip action: Heirlooms that (apparently) bloom forever.

So, I'd toss out an idea and feel like a fool. Minutes later some fellow in the room would take my idea and repeat it to the crowd. Then everyone would smile and say... Oh, that's good... Huh? I dunno, seems hard to believe that in this day and age I could be considered 'a dumb girl.' But, maybe so. The good news is I survived and I guess that counts for something. Hopefully something more than a bruised self-esteem.

* Admittedly I don't have a great long-term memory. Or even a pretty good short-term memory. But, I do believe this is the rainiest damn spring I've ever seen.

However! This deep drenching has inspired pretty much every flower in my garden to get with the program.

Flowers for Your Hair

"Look at them...

Look at them!

How can they do their job if you don't look at them!?"

I would hear this from my neighbor, Mrs. Lampe, when I walked past her on the way home from school.

Her front yard put 'The Secret Garden' to shame, though people rarely stopped to admire the show.

Gardeners are in tune with the simple beauty that surrounds them, but that's not how it is for most people. We can get so wrapped up in our own little problems, we barely notice what's happening in the world around us.

Flowering Almonds are hard to find but worth the effort. In early spring their branches are laden with pretty, pale-pink double blooms.

Plant a row of these and you'll get to meet every little girl in the neighborhood. They'll sneak into your yard, steal the flowers and weave wreaths to wear in their hair.

After a gorgeous spring show, the bushes leaf out, creating a nice privacy hedge for small yards.

* Prunus glandulosa 'Rosea Plena' - Zone 4, hardy flowering shrub, prefers well-drained soil. Available from Spring Hill Nursery and other online garden shops.