A pretty tree's blossoms have a limited life span

We enjoy them while we can

For two days out of the year we share with a neighbor one of the prettiest trees in the Town of Saugeen Shores. The only trouble is that after a mere 48 hours the beautiful white blossoms start to wilt and fall to the ground like snowflakes in the Lake Huron breeze. I have learned that it behooves me to take advantage of this short time span to absorb the beauty of the tree while it lasts. I drink a lot of coffee and wine while sitting on my porch on a balmy June day with sidekick Lucy curled up on my lap, just looking and marvelling...It doesn't get much better than that!

It struck me the other day that the blossoms are a lot like life. They don't last long and we should make the best of them while we can. Unlike life, however, the blossoms come back year after year to give us a lift after a long and dreary winter. Just one of the many pre-summer miracles of nature. No one seems to know the name of this particular tree or how old it is. To my knowledge there are no others like it in the area, but I hope to eventually solve the mystery. Meantime, we look forward to enjoying the blossoms for a couple of days again next spring.

Hollyhocks and nasturtiums have special meaning

I've written before about my favoite old fashioned flowers. Without question, I love them all -- the morning glories on the wall, the pansies in their patch of shade, the violets stolen from the glade, the bleeding hearts and columbine, have long been garden friends of mine; but memory every summer flocks about a clump of hollyhocks.

My folks loved hollyhocks years ago and I just grew up with them. To me they are like old friends. One of my favorite things to do as a youngster was to make dolls out of the colourful flowers by inverting them and creating a head by inserting a bud into one of the convenient holes at the top.

Hollyhocks are not that plentiful today, but when I see a patch I always have to pause to think back and admire them. To me hollyhocks are a real man's flower -- tall, stalky, dominant, and prickly. Typically and sadly, in time, they too wilt.

Nasturtiums with their pungent odor, shield shaped leaves and funnel-like red, orange or yellow flowers, are another favorite of mine. I love to look at them, smell them -- and eat them. I like nothing better than nasurtium leaves, with their crisp watercress taste, in a salad or in a sandwich with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.

Ah, the mind's bright chambers life unlocks, each summer with the nasturtiums and hollyhocks.