Two Garden Flowers in May

     Snow peas and strawberries are in flower from late April through much of May in gardens in the Middle Atlantic States.  The white blooms of both cultivated plants are lovely against the green of their foliage, making the gardens more attractive, particularly when bathed in sunshine.  But green plants are also pretty during a rain.  Then that lush, dripping vegetation seems to glow from within.
     There are several pluses to gardening.  Many people like to have gardens because they allow those folks to be able to work the soil, smelling the soil and getting exercise in fresh air and sunlight while doing so.  And there is the reward of being close to nature, watching plants develop and harvesting your own fresh vegetables and fruits from those plants.        
     Pea plants originally grew in the Mediterranean Sea area of Europe.  Being a legume, pea plants take nitrogen from the air and fix that nitrogen into the soil, enriching it and preparing it for the growth of other types of vegetation.  Peas can be planted early and their seeds in green pods can be harvested around the end of May and into early June.  After that the plants, that grow as vines, wilt in the heat of summer. 
     Snow peas produce flat pods with immature seeds.  Whole pods of snow peas, steamed until they are desirably soft, are edible, and tasty with margarine.  Or snow pea pods can be eaten raw as part of a salad.        
     Strawberries grow wild in much of the world, including in North America.  This aggravate fruit has double beauties- the lovely flowers and the attractive, red fruit that have many small, beige seeds imbedded in their outer surfaces.  Those sweet, juicy fruits are available in this area, in abundance, around the beginning of June.  Many people like to pick their own, which gets them into nature.   
     A large variety of wild animals in this area like to eat strawberry fruits, both wild and domestic,  as much as people do.  They include slugs, box turtles, several kinds of birds, raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, rodents, deer and other species.    
     Snow peas and strawberry plants have many delights, including their lovely flowers in May, edible fruits and getting people into nature to cultivate and harvest those plants.  The beauties and benefits of nature are where one finds them.