The West is greener than I've ever seen it! For months, unusual amounts of rain and snow have pelted sagebrush and gardens alike. And this means that the high plains and foothills -- often tan or outright brown -- are verdant. Craggy mountain tops still have big snow pack. And down below, places like Hamilton and its weekly farmers' market are full of spring and early-summer flowers. One farmers' market vendor sells her cut blossoms in small vases. I ask her about the array, and she laughs and says, "You should see the bald spot in my yard!"
Also at the market is a huge crop of shoppers (http://www.hamiltonfarmersmarket.webs.com/, see the photo gallery) out in sun to visit with each other after a long, wet winter. They may rest in a set of blue chairs set out for live music...
Montana State University Extension writes about homesteaders bringing lilacs to the valley and finding that they're one of the few exotic shrub types to survive harsh winters here. Boy, do they ever!!
They decorate street corners, stand alone as specimens in front yards or make thick privacy screens between house and street, or house and neighbors. Even last night in Missoula -- on a trip to shop, eat out and, later, listen to Alex practice flute with other musicians he'd met online -- I sit just outside the screen door, on a lawn chair, and delight to the scent of lilacs in the yard. And, of course, to the six flutes inside.
My own temporary outdoor space back in Hamilton is lilac-free, unfortunately. But that doesn't mean there aren't cut stems of lilac in the house -- there to greet us when we arrive. And dinner at the Grange the other night features lots and lots of lilac centerpieces, perhaps to soften and sweeten the politically charged atmosphere (?).
In any event, our little garden just outside the cottage door is about to burst into bloom with daisies and peonies. Flowers of iris, hardy geranium and gorgeous purple lupine spikes (see below) already are getting underway.
And my part in this bit of horticulture? (otherwise done quite beautifully by cottage owner Kris Komar!) I can't help myself. Before a little dinner party here, I fill out the edge of a whiskey-barrel with $4 worth of hardware-store pansies (yes, exactly the same kind of pansies that I'd just torn out of my St. Louis garden in advance of wilting summer heat; in Hamilton, they should last through June).
And under those pansies? A little more guerilla gardening: I buy Botanical Interests cherry-red nasturtium seeds at the beautiful little Sam's Spade garden center, tool supply and gift shop in Hamilton. I will push the pea-sized seeds down under the pansies. With any luck, they'll produce leaves on stems before we leave at the end of June...
...and red flowers (for a red-white-and-blue theme that's happening here) for the next round of guests!!
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