My favorite month is upon us! I just love May. I always have. I remember my mom helping me to make May baskets for the first day of May. I loved putting the little paper baskets together and then leaving them on neighbor's doors. We would have great fun ringing the doorbells and then running and hiding in the bushes, waiting to see their reaction to the bouquets.

I guess I love May the most because of all the wonderful flowers. I enjoy all the seasons for each of their unique beauties, but this time of year holds such promise and day to day change. My second favorite flower appears this month as well; hint, hint. When I wrote my book, "The Fields of May," I so enjoyed writing the several scenes that took place this time of year when the lovely flower were appearing. Spirea are some of my favorites and when we get down to "second favorites" the list becomes clogged. Actually there are several vying for second place, spirea among them. I have a treasured picture of Clint and I in 1980 all dressed up and headed for the prom. We had our picture taken in front of his Grandma Sal's humongous spirea bush. I have always loved those flowers and the romantic memories associated with proms, graduation, and all that this season represents.

Yesterday I planted the last row of potatoes while Rhiannon mowed the lawn. Then I headed to the English garden and planted all the perennials I'd purchased over the last few days. I hope they will be alright out there. We had a warmish day today with almost constant rain. This should give them a healthy start. I did alot of weeding, placing of more rocks, and general garden duties yesterday and it's a good thing since today was not conducive to garden work.

I noticed yesterday after clearing the weeds from a few flower beds that I actually need more perennials! I have several in the beds, but many are identical and once they are done blooming that leaves holes and gaps in the entire look of the garden. I am overrun with shasta daisies and they are early bloomers. It's intersting how the face of the garden changes with each summer month. This time of year little flowers and pastels are predominant. Tiny wild violets and forget-me-nots give a misty appearance to the edges of the beds. Soon the shasta daisies will give the garden a predominantly white appearance broken up only by the lavendar irises. By the end of June or early July the garden will take on a carnival-like color with the oranges, yellows, and burgundies of lilies and purples and hot pink shades of phlox and other flowers. A few pastel roses will linger but the reds and purples of certain varieties will be ablaze with color then as well. I have never striven to create a garden of constant bloom, but by choosing flowers I love and accepting donations from friends, it has worked out that way. There are very few dull times out in the English garden clear til frost.

Soon it will be time to haul all the garden ornaments out there. I have benches, bent willow chairs, wicker tables, and lots of wire ornaments I've collected. I've got this thing for ornate wire stuff. I have a bird cage that sits out there, a few bird feeders, and even lots of broken or chipped china plates that I use to edge the beds or corral certain groups of flowers. The beautiful dishes sunken part way in the ground really give the garden a formal and elegant look, adding color and serving as a curioddity.

While I was down on my knees weeding yesterday I was reminded of the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13. He spoke of the weeds and wheat growing up together. The owner of the field said to leave the weeds until the time of harvest and then he would deal with them. Aside from other lessons this parable has to offer, I am reminded of the truth that if you pull certain weeds before they or the plants are big enough, you may uproot the plant as well. It's sometimes better to wait to pull weeds lest you damage the precious little plant in the process. I think it's that way with us sometimes. We want immediate change in our lives and the lives of others. We think that new Christians need to shape up immediately and sometimes we older Christians can be hard on them, not allowing them time to grow. We need to be careful not to uproot them while we're trying to point out and pull up the weeds in their lives. It is better to let the Holy Spirit deal with them and convict them of things that need "weeding" out of their lives. I learned this lesson from gardening. and each time I pull weeds I think of that. It's amazing how much the everday tasks of life can teach you.

Another favorite flower clue: Like the hollyhock, it has a stalk laden with several flowers. Blessings, LORI