"Wind S.W. Brisk, sunshine warm. Warm, hazy air all day till sunset. Mezereons(i) bloom. Gooseberry and Elder put out their leaves. Apricots just show their blossom buds. Lesser Tortoiseshell Butterfly appears. Single Hepaticas in full bloom. First Violets blow, and Single Daffodils and Persian Iris(ii)."
That was Thomas Gray, poet and scholar, writing in his journal in Cambridge in March, 1755, as quoted by George Myerson in A Private History Of Happiness: Ninety-Nine Moments of Joy from Around the World
Myerson comments, "Each moment seemed to bring a new gift ... It was as if small wonders were being conjured up by a magic spell. The garden was coming back to life one flower at a time... Yet at the same time, as a promise of all that would soon come, there was also the 'full bloom' of the Hepaticas. Their cycle of bloom was completing as other plants were just beginning. Gray was looking at the wonderful intricacy of time itself in this miniature of the natural world, forever consummated and reborn."
(i) Daphne mezereum.
(ii) The pictures are of Iris reticulata 'Harmony', not Gray's Iris persica.
My garden seems to be coming back to life one flower at a time too. I never seem to do very well with the iris - leaves with no flowers at the moment.
Posted by: elaine | 25 February 2014 at 10:37 PM
'First Violets blow'. Isn't that a lovely expression? I love the old London street cry, 'All a-growing and a-blowing!' My garden is trying to burst into spring but is *so* boggy at the moment I can't do anything in it.
Posted by: Barbara | 26 February 2014 at 07:39 AM
Some parts of my town are flooded with rising water, so I count myself very fortunate to look out of my front window on snowdrops, hellebores, irises and primroses all blooming happily. I can even see an early daffodil or two coming out. Spring is definitely on its way.
Posted by: Joan W | 26 February 2014 at 09:34 AM
Hope they appear soon!
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 February 2014 at 07:40 PM
We've had nothing like the rain you've had in the south, but even so, my patch is looking sorry for itself just now.
I do like that 'a-growing and a-blowing' expression.
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 February 2014 at 07:42 PM
The Spring flowers are such a cheering sight, aren't they, but what an awful time those poor people who have been flooded are having.
Posted by: Cornflower | 26 February 2014 at 07:44 PM
Here in Massachusetts we are about 6 weeks behind you, spring, when it arrives, seems to only last about a week then we are full on into summer. i am not complaining but simply reminding myself that something is germinating under that constant blanket of snow. We will get more snow before winter frees us from it's grip. Of course, this means more time to spend reading in front of the fire!
Posted by: Dorothy | 27 February 2014 at 05:59 PM
not flooded but challenged by lack of trains down in Devon for the moment is glistening in glorious sunshine - the crocuses and primroses are just opening. A month ahead of last year's cold spring. Lovey pics btw.
Posted by: AnnaB | 28 February 2014 at 01:34 PM