The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size — Gertrude S. Wister
I’ve been trying to avoid saying it – it seemed too soon – I haven’t written much on winter yet. But, on a mild sunny day, with a wide, blue sky, it’s undeniable. Spring is upon us.

No longer the first tentative shoots poking through the damp soil, already there are flowers. Crocuses in ice white or jewel shades, not even buds, but big fat blooms, wide open in the low afternoon sun. A cherry tree and a coral/coloured quince, covered in blossom. Thick, tall rods of green shooting up from bulbs in collections of pots, primroses blooming and even some narcissi with open flowers.



The first flowers of spring are a reminder of the growing season to come and the planing and work to come. But these small heralds of the new season are a splash of colour in, what has been, a grey world over winter and seeing them appearing all over the garden, it’s hard not to be optimistic about the year to come…