May 2025 Backyard Bulletin

Cover photo by Jason Paulsen

View the full edition at this link.

May offers an embarrassment of riches for the floraphiles among us! Have you noticed the lilacs in bloom along nearly every fence line? Have you stopped to press your nose into their sweet flowers before breathing in memories of springtimes past? Have you roamed the hills, balsamroot bursting in every direction, just like your eyeballs at the sight of so much vibrant color? Have you walked to the river in the rain and basked in the spring scent of cottonwood leaves still young enough to radiate their freshness? Have you traversed rocky slopes in search of the brightest pink bitterroot? Maybe you've even wandered higher to watch spring unfold a second time as the mountain snow melts, making way for sensory joys still to come. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: "it is not always May!" in a poem about life's ephemeralities. He's right, of course. But, sometimes, it IS May. Enjoy it!

-Bridger Layton, Education Programs Manager