Whitsunday, or Pentecost, is the seventh Sunday after Easter. For Christians, this commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit in tongues of flame upon the apostles. Because the disciples were said to have begun baptizing thousands of people soon afterward, Whitsunday or Pentecost became the traditional time for baptisms. Whit, a corruption of white, refers to the white baptismal garments worn on this day. It is also a time of spring festivals throughout Europe, with echoes of pagan spring rites such as morris dancing and dressing a young boy in greenery (Jack-in-the-Green) and marching him through the village.
Traditional weather lore has it that St. Dunstan was a great brewer who sold himself to the devil on the condition that the devil would blight the apple trees to stop the production of cider, Dunstan’s rival drink. This is said to be the cause of the wintry blast that usually comes about this time.
Question of the Day
I’m intrigued by the idea of a cutting garden, but I’m uncertain how one keeps such a garden generating new flowers. Any advice?
Different gardeners have different ideas about what a cutting garden should be, but generally speaking, it includes unpretentious rows of flowers, sometimes added to a large vegetable garden, that are intended to be decimated. They are the overflow, beyond the more formal borders, edgings, and patio beds that you want to keep looking their best. A cutting garden is best situated in some sunny, out-of-the-way spot. A skilled gardener will plan successive plantings to provide a steady supply of cuttings as the summer progresses. Some good choices for cutting gardens are the taller, longer-stemmed, not-so-neat varieties of flowers that adorn a bouquet but can make a formal border look disheveled. They may be annuals or perennials. Shasta daisies, feverfew, baby’s breath, statice, zinnias, cosmos, strawflowers, poppies, delphiniums, sweet peas, and ornamental grasses are all good choices.
Advice of the Day
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Home Hint of the Day
Never fertilize a lawn when the grass is wet or even damp. If you do, the fertilizer will burn the grass.
Word of the Day
Lenticular Cloud
Lenticular clouds are only seen around mountains. These strange clouds are easy to spot, because they look like flying saucers or a stack of pancakes. Their most interesting characteristic is that they don’t move. Winds blow right through them, while other clouds are swept away.
Puzzle of the Day
What subject do witches like best?
Spelling.
Died
Anne Boleyn(Henry VIII’s second wife)–
Robert B. Thomas(founder of The Old Farmer’s Almanac)–
Nathaniel Hawthorne(writer)–
T. E. Lawrence(Lawrence of Arabia”“)–
Ogden Nash(poet)–
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis(U.S. First Lady)–
Walter Lord(author)–
Charles Grodin(actor, talk show host)–
Born
Johns Hopkins(philanthropist)–
Carl Akeley(artist, biologist, & conservationist)–
Malcolm X(civil rights activist)–
Lorraine Hansberry(playwright)–
Francis Richard Scobee(astronaut)–
Nora Ephron(author & director)–
Pete Townshend(musician)–
Andre the Giant(wrestler & actor)–
Jodi Picoult(author)–
Kevin Garnett(basketball player)–
Events
Dark Day in New England–
Author Oscar Wilde released from jail–
First Jumping Frog Jubilee in Calaveras County, California–
7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred in Imperial Valley, California–
Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester threw a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. It was the first major league no-hitter of the season–
In Kansas, paraplegic Anna Sarol — with the assistance of braces, a walker, and her siblings — took steps across the graduation stage to receive her high school diploma. She had worked towards this moment ever since a gymnastics accident nearly four years before had left her paralyzed from the waist down.–
Weather
Dark Day: Darkness fell at noon throughout New England due to smoke from western forest fires.–
99 degrees F at Central Park, New York City–
Heavy rain and golf ball-size hail destroyed 80 percent of the crops in northwestern Texas–
