FOGGY MORNING
LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY
NATURALIZED LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY
A DECANTER OF MAY WINE
SWEET WOODRUFF BLOSSOM
SWEET WOODRUFF IN BLOOMMonday, 58 degrees, wind W, calm. The sky is overcast and dense fog obscures the channel. Ferry horns are braying incessantly. The barometer however predicts partly cloudy skies. Yesterday turned out hot and muggy and a good convertible evening.
Every spring I make May wine. Some folks like it, some (e.g., Joan) don’t. It’s an Old World spring tonic, meant to thin the blood and dispel bad humors. Use any white wine, Rhine will do. Put a few flowering sprigs of sweet woodruff (Galium asperula) in the bottle or decanter and let it steep for up to a week. Any longer and I think it becomes too strong.
Don’t waste money on an expensive wine until you know you like it, and probably not then. Sweet woodruff is very hardy and a nice ground cover, and there is even a northern Wisconsin town called Woodruff. There are native North American relatives of woodruff, called cleavers or bedstraw, but they won’t do the job. So, say skoal, prosit, salute or ay other European drinking salutation, and toast winter out, and summer in.
Lily-of-the-valley, Convalaria majalis, is in bloom. Also of European origin and a common garden plant, it is very sweet scented and bears decorative red berries. It has been used since ancient times in folk medicine as a heart stimulant, and is reputedly not as dangerous as Digitalis, but don’t fool with this plant on your own.
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