Shades of May

In celebration of Victoria Day

some vignettes from my garden

Enjoy the long weekend!!

Elizabeth Woodville: A Queen of the May

Elizabeth Woodville, artist unknown

On May 1, 1464 the beautiful Elizabeth Woodville secretly married the newly crowned Edward IV of England.  Contemporary rumour suggests that Elizabeth managed to bring this wedding about by her calculated refusal of the young king's amorous advances, the same tactic so famously used by Anne Boleyn sixty years later on Elizabeth's grandson, Henry VIII.  Talk about women who managed to change history.

Following her coronation on May 26, 1465, Elizabeth lived an extraordinary life at the centre of medieval England.  Ambitious and intelligent she saw the fall and rise of her family fortunes during the reigns of Richard III and Henry VII; her descendants rule over Great Britian to this day.  A powerful woman, she definitely evoked strong, conflicting feelings and was said to be both a witch and the inspiration for the Queen of Hearts playing card.

I have often come across brief, tantalizing glimpses of Elizabeth in tales of the Tudors and the Plantagenets so I was delighted to find Phillipa Gregory's new novel The White Queen which allowed me to spend a bit more time with this fascinating personage.

This novel manages to deliver a lot of historical fact wrapped up as pure entertainment with liberal doses of romance and mysticism thrown in for good measure.

After thoroughly enjoying Gregory's story, I dug up an old favourite to act as a scholarly companion,  Royal Blood: Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes by Bertram Fields.  Fields, a lawyer by trade, tackles the mystery of Elizabeth's two sons, Edward and Richard who were in line for the throne and disappeared under mysterious circumstances from the Tower of London. 

It's intriguing to get a feel for the political motives and propoganda that have shaped our perception of some major players in history.  Richard III certainly appears to be a much better man than was ever portrayed by Shakespeare, Henry VII and the Duke of Buckingham emerge as suspects and Elizabeth's actions are analyzed for clues.

After 500 years, we will probably never know the full truth of Elizabeth Woodville's life.  She remains an enchanting mystery but maybe that's exactly how it should be for a Queen of the May.

Update September 8, 2013: For more of my musings on Anne Boleyn see Anne Boleyn: The French Connection on Tatiana's Tea Room.




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The Queen of the May

Flore by Jan Massys (1559)

I've always considered May Day to be one of the most magical days of the year.

The thought of it certainly evokes a jumble of ideas and images in my head. Pagan rituals celebrating the growing season; the absolute relief of making it through another winter; Flora the goddess of flowers; the May Queen; the Maypole; Mayday (as in "help me" or "m'aider");
Anne Boleyn's world crashing down around her at a May Day Tournament;
Elizabeth Woodville's secret marriage to the newly crowned Edward VI of England.

Did they really put the Queen of the May to death after the celebrations were over?

Perhaps May Magic is so powerful because of both the dark and the light but at this time of year it is so easy to believe that the light is in ascendance!

Time for Trilliums

As a child I was taken on many an excursion through the woods of Northwestern Ontario by my intrepid Auntie Annie.  Armed with copies of Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America plus A Field Guide to Wildflowers : Northeastern and North-Central North America (Peterson Field Guides) and two salami sandwiches we would make our way through the underbrush.  Auntie Annie firmly maintained that the sandwiches were for our lunch but I always suspected that they were part of the backup plan, just in case we got lost and had to survive until rescued.

Sometimes we had a destination in mind and one of my favourites was "Oh My Golly Jungle".  Timing was everything with this place (they didn't call it "Oh My Golly" for nothing).  Too soon and we had to make our way through a bog that could suck the sneakers right off of our feet.  Too late and the going was easy but there was no reward at the end.  Just right and you found yourself in a amazing clearing full of Lady's Slippers (Cypripedioideae).  It was magic!

Sometimes we just set out to "see what we could see" taking our time, enjoying the moment and developing an appreciation for our Canadian flora and fauna.   This, I was taught, should remain where/how you found it and should NEVER EVER be picked, plucked or otherwise tampered with.

Many years later I started creating a tiny bit of forest garden in my own yard, slowly adding shade loving ferns and hardy hostas.  Of course, what I really lusted after were wildflowers, Trilliums being at the top of the list.  One of the first spring wildflowers, they taunted me with their jaunty white flowers blooming in profusion and yet so unattainable.  Though I discovered that it is actually legal to pick them in Ontario (as long as they aren't in a provincial park) I just couldn't do it.  It seemed like a horrible betrayal, especially if they did not survive the transplant which is prone to happen.  The wrath of Auntie Annie echoed across the years.  She may be 95 now but she's still fiesty!

Imagine my delight when I discovered that Trilliums are now being cultivated and that the good people at  Make It Green could provide me with some.  Of course, they are only available in rather limited quantities and only at the right time of the year, illusive little devils that they are. So due to one thing and another (read a life that was way too busy to take time for Trilliums) it took me five years to actually bring my first batch home.  I tucked them into my garden this week and then celebrated by taking a few photos of their "wild" siblings who live just on the other side of our fence.

I will be keeping an eye on their progress while I ponder my next gardening move.  Any idea where I could find cultivated Lady's Slippers?

Photos: Trilliums 10-04-14 by Tatiana Dokuchic, PinkSlipper,  T. grandiflorum

Update May 5, 2012:  It took two years, but these Trilliums are now flowering in my garden!!