Because we’ve had so many cool days and even cooler nights, the daffodil and forsythia bloom has been longer than usual. One year, the day after the first tulips bloomed, the temperature climbed up to 90 degrees. The next day the tulip flowers had withered and were done for the year. They, like me, hate 90 degrees.

There are so many huge swathes of daffodils all over the Island that driving around is very enjoyable. I’m also fond of a random single flower in an unlikely location. Did an animal transport the bulb or what?

I have a stand of red tulips which have so far been untouched by deer. Of course it’s in an area used by the geriatric dog as a bathroom. All the other tulips on the property get chomped as soon as they emerge from their winter’s nap.

I’m a little late, but am finally tossing some Pro-Holly on all the acid-loving shrubs like evergreens and hydrangeas. While doing so I loved seeing all the returning perennials — lupines, astilbe, oriental poppies and peonies. They don’t even need to be blooming to be lovely.

Also, sadly, the weeds are back stronger than ever. Mustard greens and onion grass are a veritable carpet everywhere. By far, the most annoying are mugwort and Japanese knotweed. Both are thriving underneath a black plastic weed mat after five years. Granted, they are pure white, but nonetheless alive and well. I saw a vigilant six-inch-tall knotweed between the road and curbstone. It seemed to have made its own crack in the concrete. Yikes!

Abbe Burt’s place on Skiff avenue is quite nice, with its blooming andromeda and various colors of the ground phlox spilling over the bank.

Don’t be alarmed — vitex, crape myrtle and hibiscus are all very slow to bud up and leaf out. Do not yank them up thinking they’re dead.

No matter when peas get planted, it seems they are table-ready by the Fourth of July. Good thing, since mine have not yet made it from the plug trays to open ground.

I finally did transplant some of the onion seedlings. Honestly, how can a person do all that she intends in a day. I’ve always had a problem with over-scheduling and underestimating how much time and energy a task can take.

It seems every year there is another plant that falls to predation by deer. The latest is lilacs. I went to a property on Tuesday where there is a large stand of ancient ones. There is a “deer line” about four feet up into the foliage that is completely decimated. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to remain a good sport.

Who is a good sport? Joe Biden is. I watched the White House correspondence dinner this weekend hosted by Saturday Night Live’s host Colin Jost. As tradition has it, there was a great deal of joking, much at the expense of President Biden. He laughed throughout and took it like a champ. He was able to throw in a few self-deprecating remarks of his own.

At the end, Colin Jost told of his late grandfather, a Staten Island firefighter who had voted for Biden in 2020. The reason the 95-year-old gentleman gave for that vote was that Joe Biden is a decent man. Amen!