Signs of Spring: what to look out for
Noticing the first signs of spring
Last week, for the first time in a very long while I awoke naturally, to the softening of light and of birds cheeping outside my bedroom window. After months and months of endless fog (both metaphorically and physically) it was with a sense of relief that I noticed those first signs of spring. “Can you hear that” I whispered to the boys who lay next to me in bed, one snuggled in each arm. “Is it season mama?” asked Arlo. My baby boy who turns four in a few weeks is acutely aware of the changing of seasons and has struggled this year with the endless dreariness, dragging his feet up the hill to nursery school every day. We’ve found ways to make the walk enjoyable (travelling on the stick train is a favourite) but I can’t blame him sometimes for the complaining.
And even as those first signs of spring appear, it feels a little discombobulating after the winter we’ve had. Aside from a few days of crisp, frosty mornings it’s been dull, extremely wet and pretty mild. I feel as though my body hasn’t yet reset itself for the new season.
Nature carries on though, the birds are already fighting over their territories and we have collared doves and a pair of robins courting each other in our urban garden. In more sheltered spots daffodils are in full bloom and swathes of snowdrops carpet woodland floors. Catkins with their powdery pollen bursting forth drip down from trees swaying in the constant winds of late and the brave flowers of the camelia bush are in full swing despite being battered by the elements. Looking up, there are signs of early blossoms appearing in trees and the soft furry magnolia flowers will be quick to follow,. Let’s hope that the storms don’t take them from us before we get to enjoy their beauty in full!
Another sign of spring: bedlinen hanging on the line to dry
Whilst we have a good few months to wait before bluebells come into flower, you can already see their green shoots popping through the ground if you look closely. Bluebells tend to thrive in thick woodland, where the dappled shade of the leaves in the tree canopies above them limits the growth of out competing floral and fauna. There is nothing more magical than swathes of bluebells on a warm, sunny spring day, with butterflies and insects flitting by and pollen floating through the air.
Signs of spring my garden
In my garden, I can see the bulbous ruby red buds of peonies cutting through my soil and both the lilac tree and quince tree are budding with lush green leaves bursting from the tips of craggy branches. The hellebores continue to put on a good show and overwintering violas are a burst of sunshine peeking over the top of my hanging baskets. Despite the small size of my urban garden, I’ve managed to squeeze in two miniature ponds, last summer we had toads, frogs and newts living in them and I’m keeping everything crossed that we get frogspawn this year, I would love for the boys to witness the miracle of metamorphosis.
Bringing Spring inside
In my studio, I’ve been experimenting with drying tulips. I’ve had varying degrees off success before and am keen to try more varieties and using different methods. The tulips pictured below were dried using what I call the lazy method, i left them in the vase with a a couple of cms of water at the bottom. The stems are still fleshy and the petals have turned a deep blueish colour and remain fixed to the stem. In the flower presses you will find snowdrops, tete-a-tete daffodils, violas, hellebores, wood anenomes and crocuses. And for the sheer joy of it, I am forcing branches of magnolia and blossoms, neither of which will ever dry but make my days more bearable.
