I have two wisteria bushes next to my front porch that have stubbornly refused to flower. I have performed the twice-a-winter pruning recommended to induce flo
wering only to be disappointed. Last winter I just left the bush untouched and of course this spring, no flowers. But wait
, yesterday I opened my bedroom window to discover the wisteria blooms on my porch roof! Only I can see them, and only if I crawl out the window, but still. One of my goals for the spring is to build some kind of support along the porch to encourage more blooming next year.May wine is made by soaking white wine in the flowers of sweet woodruff - which are currently in bloom. I have always meant to try this, but somehow missed the season. Last night we tried and it was quite heavenly. I snipped a handful of the tiny woodruff flowers and poked into a fresh bottle of chardonnay. I put it in the fridge for a few hours and we drank it. The recipes all recommend using rhine wine for this -- next time. I will be cutting and drying the woodruff this weekend so that I can have May Wine in the month of May!
I found out that one of the hardiest weeds in my garden is mugwort. Mugwort has many medicinal and some mild recreational uses so I am delighted to know I can harvest this stuff. The Koreans make an external tea out of it, and pipe it into their steam rooms. It is also used for moxibustion. The dried mugwort can be used as a smudge to purify the house, or placed in or on your pillow to enhance dreaming. You can also drink tea made of mugwort to enhance dreaming, aid digestion, and so on.
So much fun to be had by looking walking outside the house or looking out the window!
