The early spring madness of clean up, pot up, sow seeds, moan about dead plants, and rush around like a crazy person is over. The irises, peonies, and azaleas have all bloomed this year and were stunning. I’ve never seen irises so tall and with such large blooms. It’s time to take a break.

So … grab a glass of something icy and cool, iced tea with a sprig of fresh mint; lemonade made from scratch and garnished with raspberries; or perhaps a tall frosty glass of white sangria. Let’s take a slow walk around the garden and admire the beauty of Mother Nature and our own accomplishments too. No fair complaining about weeds, broken walkways or any other problem. Just take some time to enjoy your own private paradise.

We gardeners are often so task-oriented that we fail to enjoy what we’ve created or to think about how our gardens came to be. Not surprisingly, our gardens are a strong reflection of who we are and what we value. They also link us to previous generations of gardeners. Do you plant four o-clocks and hollyhocks because your grandmother did? Do you have roses or boxwood grown from cuttings that were given to you by someone special? I bet most of us have at least some of these things. Is there something that you absolutely refuse to plant because you hated it in someone else’s garden? Oh yes. Totally guilty of that. There will never, ever be a turnip in my vegetable garden.

Sit a while and relax. The garden madness will return any minute. You know you just must plant more glads, refresh the container gardens, and fill in all the holes that the dogs dug when you weren’t paying attention. In a few more weeks, there’ll be too many tomatoes and squash to eat and canning or freezing mania will commence. What were we all thinking when we planted 100 tomato plants and 30 hills of squash.

Sit. relax, breathe. Enjoy. You’ve earned it. There’s plenty of time next month for frantic activity.

CYNTHIA WOOD is a master gardener who writes two columns for The Herald. Her email address is cynthia. crewe23930@gmail.com.