The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I always forget how purple the gardens are as May ends and June makes her grand entrance. Early in May, the crocuses come up purple and yellow, then the chives bloom purple, then the comfrey adds it’s hairy blooms, and now the clematis.

The bees are crazy for the comfrey. They love it. We especially get a lot of those giant biker bees that look like they’re wearing leather jackets. Their buzz is a loud and low BUuUUUuuuUUZZzzzzZZZz.. That is, until they get into one of those little bell flowers, then it becomes high and thin, almost nasal sounding. Zitzitzzzittzitzit.

The bees also love the chive blossoms. I know that, strictly speaking, if you are going to eat your chives, you shouldn’t let them bloom. We do eat them but I let them bloom for two reasons: 1) The bees. The bees start coming around before the first buds are even open, looking for one to snack on. 2) The people. The chives are some of the first blooms to come in the Spring and after the long Winter and grey and dreary start to Spring, the flowers are much more important than any subtle difference in flavour in my chives. My unofficial policy is the let the first flush happen unimpeded - all the chives can bloom all they want. And then, if I get around to it, I’ll keep a bunch here and a bunch there free of blossoms, while letting the others go to town - for the bees and the beauty. These chives are ready to be cut back. The blooms have faded now and the bees have lots of other choices for their dining pleasure :)

There are a lot of rabbits in our subdivision. A lot. No really. A LOT. And they like our yard because we have lots of clover and dandelions in our lawn. A benefit of this is that they tend to leave our gardens sort-of alone because their favourite foods are right there in the lawn. They do of course, eat some things in the gardens (hence the fencing around my vegetable gardens), and in winter they munch on the shrubs and trees, but compared to other people with no “weeds” in their lawn, my gardens are relatively unscathed.

This Spring there has been one rabbit that has been quite bold. She hangs around in the yard even when we’re out there and only runs away if we move directly toward her. She’s all calm and munching on the clover beneath the birch tree. The Baby loves her and grins when he sees her. And as a family we spend hours watching her nibble and twitch and wondered what we had done to deserve such a gift.

Eventually, quite by accident and just in the nick of time, we discovered why she was around so much:

(Pardon the blur. I was trying to be quick and intrude as little as possible). There were at least four babies in there. And whenever someone would wonder aloud, “I wonder how the bunny babies are doing” we’d all get that omg-they’re-so-cute-it-makes-my-stomach-squoosh feeling. And seriously, it was better than free money having those little guys back there.

NatureWorks: Eastern Cottontail Info Page
All entries in the Nature Journal series from Suburban Green is People.
Nature Deficit Disorder: How this series began.