In literature, May is the month of flowers and has been celebrated for centuries. Historically, the hawthorn is known as the May-bush. The Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser wrote of may-baskets and of ‘Hawthorne buds’.

Roman celebrations for the festival of flowers were held on the first of May. In Italy, young people still decorate the doors of friends with boughs of flowers in May.

May Day, a festival of dance and flowers was once a gala event in England. The day was anticipated with excitement, much as the fourth of July is in the United States.

At sunrise, the young people of the village brought fresh flowers and hawthorn boughs from the woods for the May Day ceremonies.

Singing, the blowing of horns and merrymaking along with the fragrance of fresh flowers made all of the villagers joyful in spirit.

The fairest maiden of the village was crowned the May queen and adorned with a wreath of fresh flowers and hawthorn branches She was seated in a special place where she held her court, and received homage from her companions.

Every village had a green space where a Maypole was erected. On the morning of May Day, wreaths of flowers were hung on it. The young people danced on the grass around the Maypole.

In the United States, May Day has also been a celebrated holiday. Unfortunately, many young children of today have never heard of May Day or the Maypole.

The May Day festival of flowers and dancing has been overshadowed by more popular holidays involving toys and candy.

May is certainly the month of flowers in the Miss-Lou. Colorful and fragrant blossoms are abundant everywhere. If you haven’t readied your flower beds for spring planting, don’t fret.

There’s still time, and good soil is the key to beautiful garden plants. An application of fertilizer and ample water can only add to your success.

Temperatures are now consistently warm enough to begin planting periwinkle, celosia, caladiums, basil and other plants that are sensitive to cool, damp nights.

Direct seed into the garden, colorful annual plants such as cosmos, marigold, sunflower and zinnias. These are relatively easy to grow, as long as you keep them moist until they germinate, or sprout. To a child, growing beautiful flowers from seed can be a fascinating experience.

Flower beds in the full sun require tough plants. Periwinkle, moss rose, melampodium and angelonia are annuals that can beat the heat and dry summer weather. Salvias, lantana and verbena are also great summer plants for areas receiving more than six hours of hot sun each day.

Torenia, impatiens, green leaf begonia varieties, and the splash or polka-dot plants are colorful choices for the shady garden. These can also be planted amongst shady groundcovers, ferns or perennials that may bloom at a particular time of the year. Caladiums combined with impatiens or begonias are a wonderful compliment for shady locations.

Do you have a special event planned this fall? Are you imagining a fabulous garden for fall pilgrimage? If so, now is the time to plant for those occasions. Purple fountain grass is a striking ornamental grass that is particularly lovely in late summer and fall, when it blooms.

The perennial salvias are outstanding in fall gardens, and the perfect compliment to any of the ornamental grasses.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ is one of several fall blooming sedum species. The flowers are unusual, long lasting and are great for cutting. alvia leucantha or Mexican bush sage is beautiful in fall when the silvery-white foliage is topped with purple blooms. The country girl daisy is another spectacular fall bloomer that really &uot;shows out&uot; in the fall.

Celebrate the month of flowers by teaching a child about the wonderful world of plants. Cigar plants, cat whiskers, bat face flowers and wishbone flowers are just a few annuals with interesting flowers to match their funny names. They can be planted in pots or flower beds and can be great introductory plants for children.

Happy May Day, and may you have happy and floriferous month.

Gardening Miss-Lou Style is a weekly column written by Traci Maier of Natchez. She can be reached at 445-5181 or by email at ratmaier@iamerica.net