Now Is The Fun Part

You know how sometimes a word gets stuck in your head, and everything reminds you of it?  Earlier this week I read a garden blog about ephemerals .  Although the term was used very specifically to describe plants that come and go before the trees leaf out, of course in a broader sense everything is ephemeral. I was again reminded of that truth by  one of Gretchen Rubin’s “secrets of adulthood” : The Fun Part Doesn’t Come Later; Now is the fun part.

sweet woodruff

So this morning we took a little walk in the back yard to appreciate what’s blooming right now, and for me the fun part was the sweet woodruff.  I don’t remember when I bought the first plants or where, but this plant has flourished outside my kitchen door for years.  I’ve always imagined steeping it to make May wine; maybe this year…

The plant when newly gathered has but little odour, but when dried, has a most refreshing scent of new-mown hay, which is retained for years. Gerard tells us:
‘The flowers are of a very sweet smell as is the rest of the herb, which, being made up into garlands or bundles, and hanged up in houses in the heat of summer, doth very well attemper the air, cool and make fresh the place, to the delight and comfort of such as are therein. It is reported to be put into wine, to make a man merry, and to be good for the heart and liver, it prevaileth in wounds, as Cruciata and other vulnerary herbs do.’

 

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