May Day Cats and Flowers

On Wednesday morning this beautiful polyphemus moth was clinging to the tractor tire rim which Jim painted on Tuesday afternoon.  At first I was concerned that the moth had blundered into still tacky paint, but it wasn't stuck.

I lifted it carefully and it fluttered to the ground. We thought it might be cold.

As the boy cats are fascintated by anything which flies or flutters, I gently carried the moth to a spot under the Knock Out roses--sheltered but with the warmth of the morning sun filtering through the leaves.

I checked several times and the moth was still there, alive but lethargic.

Then it was there no longer.

You can see the slight tattering on the edges of its wings.

I hope it revived to fly another day.

The deep pink clematis has been slower to respond to having its roots disturbed in the autumn of 2011.

I've tied up the sprawling tendrils so that the blooms won't be spoiled by dragging in the grass.

The white clematis is at the peak of its bloom this week.

I could admire it endlessly--take one more photo from a slightly different angle.

The pale green tint in the heart of the blossoms is so lovely.

The 'bluebells' are a bulb flower.  They were scattered in the deeply shaded area near the carport--a spot that gets regular mowings.  I moved them last spring to the edge of the upper perennial strip.

Edward

The boys cats are such a help in my gardening efforts!

Any bit of earth that I dig is immediately attractive.

Small plants carefully patted into place in the garden must be barricaded with a surround of sticks or they are promptly dis-interred.

Bobby has been scolded for digging!

Willis has pursued the 'boys' in a merry chase, thrashing through a stand of iris, flailing about in the pinks, coming to rest with Nellie beside a nepeta.

Clumps of catnip have self-sowed here and there from the several originals which I deliberately placed in the gardens. Willis and the boys romp through them, wallow in the aromatic leaves,

with predictable results.

Willis has claimed this patch for his own and is prepared to defend it.

Salvia has coarse leaves and a rather rank scent, but it is dependable through any extremes of summer weather and winter hardy.

You can see the feathery stems of  lespedeza which constantly invade the flower strips.

It is a legume of the pea family that is naturalized here.

The fronds can grow out in a whorl reaching nearly two feet from the central stem making it difficult to root out from the middle of a dense clump of perennials.

These lillies were languishing near the Knock Out roses--too shaded.  I moved them into the upper perennial strip last summer.  They have rewarded me by spreading.

Delicate blossoms on a blueberry bush.

The blackberries are opening their pretty blossoms.

Hopefully a late frost won't spoil them this year.

There is more pruning to be done on the brambles--not a task that I enjoy.

Tiny fruit forming on the peach tree--already the shape of the fruit is distinctive.

Willis the Cat takes his ease after tending to his farm and garden duties.

I love to garden.

When spring finally arrives it seems that so much 'wants done' at the same time.

I think it would be lovely to come in from gardening-- muddy and aching--to find a miraculously tidy house and a delicious meal ready to serve as soon as I had indulged in a hot shower.

Since I am cook, housekeeper, unwilling secretary to J., as well as gardener--it isn't going to happen.

The one restorative I can depend on is the pitcher of lemonade or iced tea which I make mid-morning and pop in the fridge.