It was amazing on Tuesday to see how much everything greened up following the rain on Memorial Day. We certainly needed that rain. The pollen situation was completely out of hand. At one point last week I thought there was a fire somewhere. The wind was sending huge wafts of pine pollen everywhere. Yikes, we have been breathing that stuff.

The irises are in full and glorious bloom. I saw some yellow ones in a field of daisies and lupine. I never thought they would belong in a meadow but they looked spectacular and right at home.

Like all spring shrubs and perennials, irises simply do not last long enough. I hope gardener’s heaven has everything all the time. In the meantime, here on Earth, now is the time to enjoy everything as it comes along.

My oriental poppies are blooming. Years ago, I started both Princess Victoria Louise and Royal Wedding. Only a few plants of each cultivar made it into adulthood. But those plants have grown to a huge maturity. They put out dozens of blossoms.

Also, the red annual poppies have reseeded everywhere in my vegetable garden. They are filling the paths. Next to the blue/green jagged leaves of cardoon they make a big statement. I would never have thought up the combination on my own.

A property on Skiff avenue in Vineyard Haven has blue/green hostas and red peonies. I always admire them. The peonies are about to pop. One time, the late great Trudy Taylor stopped by when my tree peony was blooming. She clutched her chest and said: “When the peonies are gone, the honeymoon is over.”

There are stories of slips of peonies heading out west on Conestoga wagons. The ancestors of the pioneers had brought them over on the Mayflower. People seem to have familial attachments to their peonies. Oh, how I wish I had a piece of the one along our driveway in Rew, Pa. Now that my parents are gone the house has sold. There is no sense having regrets, so it’s just a passing thought.

My poor vegetable garden is suffering from neglect. The busy Memorial Day week occupied all my time and energy. I let the asparagus get away from me. It turns to fern practically overnight. The good news is that it will be back next May.

I had my first strawberry. This is a patch I have been meaning to discontinue. It’s three or four years old. I moved the runners to a new area last year and they look ready to produce a fine crop.

Strawberries like a lot of water but not once they start ripening. The commercial growers pump them full of water at the end so they are huge but not nearly as sweet as the small, homegrown ones. Hopefully, I will get a net over the patch as they are a favorite of catbirds.

I heard two interesting tidbits from the week’s news. Governor Jerry Brown has endorsed Hillary Clinton. For those of you who remember your 1992 presidential campaign, this is remarkable. Mr. Brown won the Connecticut primary over Bill Clinton that year. He ran as the Bernie Sanders candidate that cycle. How times do change.

Also, Bill Weld, our former governor of Massachusetts, is running as a third party candidate for vice president along with the former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.

All of this would be fun to watch if it were not so scary.