Sikora Wells Appel Office Garden
As you can imagine, we love plants. Trees. Nature. So “April showers bring May flowers” may seem like a silly saying, but for us, we see it as something a little deeper: a relationship between climate and plant life. Spring rains help in maintaining a foundation of healthy, resilient landscapes, replenishing soil moisture and recharging our underground aquifers. This new flush of water in the landscape also awakens vibrant blooms for the month of May.
This saying has been around much longer than you think. Did you know it can be traced back to a 1557 poem by Thomas Tusser? Thomas was known as a poet and farmer, often writing about agricultural practices. In the ‘Aprils Husbandrie [sic]’ section of his, ‘Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, ’the saying goes, 'Sweet April showers, do spring May Flowers'.
By May, our designs are renewed by April showers. Colors abound in meadows, rain gardens and green roofs; spring green washes over our open spaces and lawns. Though we may complain about those grey, rainy days in April, they bring fresh life to our landscapes. We see this every year in our very own office space. Each spring our experimental gardens prove to us that a little bit of rain never hurt, and that the saying, “April showers bring May flowers” does ring true.
