The older I become, the more I appreciate the advent of Spring. Perhaps it is some form of “one foot in the grave” syndrome, but where as in the past I merely noticed (or not) that new life was stirring in the grounds, I now actively look for it.
The first alert is the bright yellow flowers on the Witch Hazel, followed by Snowdrops then yellow Aconites. Regardless of the date we generally only consider Spring to have truly arrived when the Daffodils are in full bloom. This is of course a moveable feast dependant on the weather and variety. Probably more important is geographical location. We have noted in the past that Cornish daffodils are well over by the time ours start to open.
The first tree to bud in our grounds is the Horse Chestnut, it is also the first to start losing foliage, thus heralding the onset of Autumn. (Don’t ask what order everything else pops up in)
Wendy is busy planting new trees prior to the end of the dormant cycle, some of them even our children will not see to maturity. On the other hand some unselfish individual planted many of the beeches that have given us so much pleasure over the years, and are now providing cosy log fires for our guests.
Some of the thousand or so bulbs we planted at the end of last year are beginning to show, although it may be another year before we get to see the rest of the planting that the field mice have not dug up and eaten. Paperwhite Narcissi in pots are in full bloom under the shelter of the portico – lovely and fragrant to have in the House, but they die back very quickly in the heat.
As everyone (everyone??) knows the Vernal Equinox on March 20th marks the official arrival of Spring, but here on the coast where the snow has almost completely missed us so far, and where we have had a toasty 6 to 8 degrees celcius all week, Spring’s advance party has already arrived.
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