A Chilly No Mow May

In the early hours of Thursday morning we hopefully experienced the last of the freezing temperatures (in our area) until next fall. A local weather reporter even promised that it is now okay to get out and plant stuff! Poor Stewart will most likely miss snoozing under the pansies that we have been dragging in from the front porch every night for the last two weeks.

It's been a very cold spring here and yet the daffodils have been amazing. Who knew they could survive in snow and icy temperatures for weeks and still look great? 

Even though it's been freezing, we've been stocking up ever since the greenhouses opened.

The skeleton crew is overjoyed to finally be able to get out and do some planting.

 

With proper supervision, naturally.

Last month, our city council approved a resolution to observe No Mow May. It essentially suspends the city ordinance requiring homeowners to maintain their lawns in order to give bees and other pollinators a better chance at surviving. I find it ridiculous that it's perfectly fine to walk into a restaurant with a loaded gun but if you let your grass grow taller than 8" you can be fined up to $500.

We opted to keep our front yard mowed because it's small and one of our next door neighbors is a total ass. I'm all for helping the bees and the other invertebrates save the planet, and have always kept an organic, pesticide and herbicide free lawn and garden. Still, over the last five years I've noticed a definite decline in not only the number of bees and butterflies but the diversity of the insects frequently captured in my photos. 

So it was a no-brainer to jump on the No Mow bandwagon, seriously, how bad could it get? Ha! As is often the case with change, especially those that benefit the environment, it came with a price. Hopefully, the insect population will multiply at the same rate as the weeds! 

The plants surrounding these trilliums are considered to be weeds, even those cute little wood violets. Normally, I would pull out everything but the violets. This year, because I've noticed that the bumble bees really love the Creeping Charlie flowers, that particularly noxious pest gets to stay. Is it really so terrible to look at? That's a personal preference but the sprinkling of pink crabapple petals helps.

Another unforeseen consequence of not mowing is the large number of ferns popping up everywhere. They seem to be nearly as numerous as the dandelions. 

It will probably be quite a few years before there's a significant increase in the diversity and numbers of pollinators. I'm nervous about the weeds winning but if that's all it takes, I can live with it. Besides, it's not all bad, Kibitz found catnip amid the chaos! Who knows what else might sprout up?

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!