Late Saturday afternoon we sit on the porch swing after a long day in the garden and watch a cloud of white butterflies float through pin cherry and oak branches. In a month the cherry will look ragged from the chewing of caterpillars.

The fringe tree is blooming, panicles of eggshell-white feathers emerging with new leaves from terminal buds that are always the last to break winter’s hold. Grancy Grey Beard and Old Man’s Beard are equally fitting common names for this small tree.

On the ground in front of the porch we can see maple-leaf viburnums, clusters of pink-tinted flower buds that will soon open white, offering nectar to small native bees and beetles. Later in summer, birds will find the blue-black berries.

We talk about the day’s work. My mind is on the melons just transplanted, three-week old seedlings just going into the ground, wondering whether I stand a chance of making a ripe melon before frost. They should have been planted earlier, I think, but life got in the way.

I see similarity in my attitude about growing melons in Maine to my father’s philosophy about hunting bobwhite quail in Georgia. “If I wanted the meat,” he would say, “I’d stay home and buy a chicken.” It was all about watching a good dog work. Growing melons is about watching them grow and the chance of pulling it off.

And it is about growing something new. This year I am growing the melon called Tigger. I have to admit the name has something to do with it – next to Eeyore, Tigger is my favorite character from the Winnie the Pooh tales. But the description in the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog clinched the deal: “The most amazing melon we have grown. The fruit are vibrant yellow with brilliant fire-red, zigzag stripes, (a few fruit may be solid yellow), simply beautiful! They are also the most fragrant melons we have tried, with a rich, sweet intoxicating aroma that will fill a room. The white flesh gets sweeter in dry climates. Small in size the fruits weigh up to 1 lb. – perfect for a single serving. The vigorous plants yield heavily, even in dry conditions. This heirloom came from an Armenian market located in a mountain valley.”

Tigger takes 85 days to mature, so I figure I have just enough growing season left. I dug plenty of compost into the bed, even more to elevate the planting hills above the soil, keeping the root zone warm. This is the key to success with melons, a warm root run with soil temperature above 65 degrees, always. I believe this to the extent that I will not irrigate with cold water from the well but instead keep 5-gallon buckets of sun-warmed water nearby.

With several years of experience growing melons in Maine, Marjorie advises me to give the plants plenty of attention, keep the soil moist, free of weeds. When fruits begin to form, trim the surrounding leaves to let in the sun and prop the melons off the ground to keep them dry and clean. I will also reduce the watering toward the end to increase the sugar content of the ripe melons.

At the moment, as we sit on the porch swinging slowly back and forth, I can see my Tigger melons on display in September at the Blue Hill Fair. The blue ribbon is testament to what can be accomplished in a Maine summer.

Send queries to Gardening Questions, P.O. Box 418, Ellsworth 04605, or to rmanley@ptc-me.net. Include name, address and telephone number.