After such a slow-moving, chilly spring, it’s suddenly time to do everything. We can finally plant tomatoes and other warm-weather vegetables.  We need to replant seeds that didn’t come up because of the cold. We ought to be out weeding like crazy, because weeds didn’t wait for warmth to come up. Abundant rain has grass growing so fast we can’t keep up with mowing. And, possibly the least fun, it’s time to clear away the detritus from bloomed-out daffodils, tulips and little bluebells (aka scilla).

If you feel overwhelmed, you qualify as normal. Most gardeners will not feel caught up until sometime in early July. Those who aren’t overwhelmed right now either have very small gardens or are paragons of gardening virtue. The rest of us make them look good by comparison.

And really, even those of us with long to-do lists ought to take a breath and admire the ravishing beauty of late May, the lushness of leafed-out trees and shrubs, and the amazing explosion of growth that comes with ever-longer days. The world doesn’t always have to be tidy to be beautiful, and neither do our gardens.

So here’s some advice about how to cope with our late-May gardeners’ too-long to-do list:

The natural world is never more alive with growth and joy than in May and June, and if we let it, that joy will fill us too. May it be so for you.

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Certainly a happy month in the garden, which feeds our souls~!

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