A couple of tiny white butterflies have appeared in the last few weeks at about the exact time they did last May. Since a butterfly lifetime is but a small fragment of a human’s lifetime I can only assume that they are descendants of last year’s. They are welcome particularly since they and our garden impose a pleasant regularity, an almost predictable regularity to our everyday affairs.

In late May, from one day to the next I am astounded by the growth of my hostas. It seems like inches overnight.

After one year of near death Camellia ‘Donation’ survived this spring. It did not flower but it will surely do next year. It was and is a favourite plant from our old Athlone garden of our recent past. It is a happy thought to consider the transition of the camellia and other plants into our Kitsilano garden. It is a continuity that placates my feelings in the unsteady world we are currently living in.

Most important in this happy pattern of a predictable “I am here, again!” is the flowering of our roses.

In many past blogs I have written here about the first rose of the season. These happened around May 12. Alas, the two responsible, died in Athlone. I wrote about that here.