There is nothing quite like the month on May in garden world. All the flowers of spring need to be fully appreciated, as they all are extremely short-lived.

The ornamental cherry trees have only bloomed for a week or so. Then, the wind and rain at the beginning of the week had their way with the fragile blooms. I do appreciate the pink petals carpeting the ground. They are blowing all over the Vineyard Haven post office. The perennial beds have changed from daffodils to wood hyacinths, ground veronica, forget-me-nots and now fully-in-bloom lilies of the valley.

I feel hopelessly behind in the vegetable gardens. I did not get a few flats of collards into the ground in a timely fashion. I took scissors to them and had them for supper straight from the planting trays. I’m just now transplanting the peppers and tomatoes into larger pots. I never worry, however, since we have a long fall here on the Island. I always seem to have plenty for the canner and/or freezer.

Last week’s column had a misspelling that was so appropriate. I said planting the cole crops but it printed out cold crops. Cole is a word to describe cabbages, broccoli, collards and all their cousins and they can be grown in the cold.

I need a driver. There is so much to see and enjoy right now. I fear I’m not paying attention to my driving duties. For example, there are a couple of notable red buds. One large one is in the parking lot of the Edgartown fire department. Another is a couple of doors up from John’s Fish Market on State Road.

Sometimes called forest pansy because of its heart-shaped leaves, the eastern redbud is native to eastern North America. Its scientific name is cercis canadensis. My high school Latin is a distant memory, but the Canada reference is fairly obvious. Also, before John’s is an old white dogwood (cornus florida). They are not found often in nurseries as the popular kousa dogwood seems to be more in style. I have a wild one in the woods. They are also native to eastern North America. Only because I know it is there do I notice it every year. It’s so tall that the blossoms are out of sight.

When my son, Jeremiah, was in high school 35 years ago, he gave me a viburnum carlcephalum for Mother’s Day. It grew up to my second floor window. The large, extremely fragrant blooms are something to write home about. This past winter, sadly, led to its demise. They are a rare find in a nursery, so I’m on the search for a replacement. If a person stays long enough on a property, it’s easy to think of plantings as old friends.

Looking particularly healthy this year — and not in a good way — is Japanese knotweed, also known as false bamboo. We are talking about a “sell the property” situation. Constant vigilance is the only answer. I’ve noticed poison being applied every few years, to wit: along Clevelandtown Road near the old Edgartown dump and along the guard rail at the Tashmoo overlook. No matter, it’s back stronger than ever with possible damage to the water table. I even noticed it coming up a crack in the pavement at the overlook. Sigh!

I have been doing quite a bit of sighing of late. Everyday seems to bring a new outrage from the national press. Do the people in charge right now even like their fellow human beings? Some seem to actually delight in their cruelty in the name of rooting out “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Allow me to channel my 1990’s inner “apprentice.” I and millions of American voters actually hire the officials in the federal government. I, it can be argued, am Trump’s boss. When can I say “you’re fired!”