We arrived safely at the lake last weekend and have been busily preparing for the summer season. Bright and early Monday morning a lake friend picked me up for a trip to the nursery to load up on flowers and plants. Once I have my flowers safely tucked away in the garage I am always anxious to get them in the pots or the ground, whatever the case may be. As such, my first accomplishment was getting the annual flowers potted and I am down to 19 pots from 22 last year; it’s not much but still progress on cutting back. Due to gale force winds I kept the pots in the garage until this weekend when I figured it was safe to put them out. Paul helped me clean up the perennial bed and hoe what will be the tomato bed this year that I got planted so that’s another task completed. Yesterday, I planted multiple greens and carrots along with gladiolas in my raised beds and sowed a wild flower seed mix in the perennial bed so, dare I say, I am done. Whew!
It only took four sessions which was much less time than it always seems it will be. I know, I said I was going to spread it out over two weeks but just couldn’t stop once I got started. Thankfully, my body held up due to all the physical therapy I did this winter/spring. However, due to tilling in the adjacent field and high winds, my respiratory system didn’t like it at all so I have been congested and wheezing for the past several days. Once I get past this maybe I can relax into the summer and enjoy the rain expected later this coming week that should give everything a jump start.
On to the subject of my article, I’ve had just about enough of these swarming Mayflies! I don’t remember them from childhood growing up in town and have learned they are particularly prevalent around water (i.e. at the lake). Per a little research, I found them described as short lived aquatic flying pests that show up in swarms. They have elongated bodies with delicate transparent wings and several long filaments on their tails. Although they don’t bite they are often referred to as “miniature mosquitoes” although, they are larger than mosquitoes here. They are part of the Ephemeroptera species in the Palaeoptera division; there are thousands of species worldwide with over 400 genera in 42 families. They are also known as fish flies or shad flies and are a food source for fish and birds which, I guess, is a good thing out here at the lake.
By the time we see them they are at the end of their life cycle and seem to die out in a matter of hours only living a day or two. Last night when I went out to the screened porch there was a noisy buzz in the air so I knew we would see lots of them by morning. Sure enough, when I got up there were thousands of dead Mayflies all over the front porch and sidewalk. Yuck! Many were still out in droves as I continued my gardening in the afternoon so I put on what I thought was a retired mask and carried on. There is a lot more to learn about these interesting little guys if you are so inclined but I am anxiously awaiting the end of their season. Of course, by then the June bugs will appear!