Workers are scooting along the roads this week, picking up the sand that was used all winter on snow and ice. They dump it from one small machine into piles at the end of the road. Later a large truck arrives and carts it all away. It is just another part of the burden that winter caused this year – in terms of inconvenience as cash! The men have also pulled up the “snow sticks” which were put out last fall to help guide the plow trucks away from any roadside hazard. They must have decided that winter is over.

Not so the juncos. They are still here several times a day, and seeming quite hungry, when they leave to find their summer haunts and raise their families, I’ll believe it is spring.

The other day I was both surprised and upset when a large hawk swooped down into the yard, expecting to get a meal. There were only a few small birds around, and thankfully the hawk missed its mark and flew away without grabbing a bird. All winter, the large bird has been around and the number of visiting birds has been much less then usual.

Neglect has just about ruined my small flower garden the past year. I was unable to keep up with the gardening while recovering from several health problems.

I will need to start over this year and have already decided to get some help to spruce up the yard. I’ve decided on what plants to get that will please both me and the humming birds and there needs to be some effort to improve the soil. Thinking about the kinds of plants I will get reminded me of a garden in Vermont, outside of a popular gift shop.

Going down the path to this shop one day, I noticed a beautiful and very large milkweed plant, just starting to bloom. I commented to the owner of the shop and she said they put the milkweed plant in her garden “on purpose.” She said it was a great attraction for butterflies and an occasional hummingbird and that the silk from the pods in early fall, are fun for the children to play with.

Milkweed plants were used for medicinal purposes in early days. During World War II the government put out a plea for the rural areas to collect the “down” in bags, to be used as stuffing in life preservers and the lining in the jackets of airmen. We collected them until the collection truck came to pick them up.

Monarch butterflies set up their headquarters on or near milkweed plants and their caterpillars feed almost exclusively on the plants leaves. A close cousin of the milkweed is the butterfly weed, a similar plant that is more dainty but has pods and the silk down which open in the fall. These are also worthy of a spot in the garden and have a very pretty flower, as well.

Another plant found in the “wild” is the aster – they dot the roadsides in the fall and are one of the last flowers to bloom at the end of summer. I found a beautiful deep purple one in the garden of a neighbor in Vermont and took a picture of it while it was in full bloom. I enclosed the picture in a Christmas card that December, and sent it to her. She was surprised and happy to get it.

Another friend has a huge “wild” daisy growing in her garden. It has survived for several years and is just as pretty as the plants we buy at a nursery.

Last week the column ended with words written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Who said “Rain does not fall on one root alone?”