Spring has brought her first bloom to my garden. A tiny crocus, purple and fresh, it is in stark contrast to the brown, wintry leaves around it. It’s a brave little flower, undaunted by the rainy, cold, miserable day and unafraid of the weather that lies ahead. It’s Spring’s first attempt to bid farewell to Winter.
Move along, Winter, Spring wants to take center stage in the garden!
But Winter will not leave readily or quickly just because Spring wants to arrive. Winter shows its might and throws down sleet and snow and ice in Spring’s path. And if Spring tries to arrive too quickly, Winter will blow its fierce cold winds and frost the buds that Spring has coaxed into opening.
It’s a battle that takes place every year in the garden, this transition from Winter to Spring.
It seems easy, somehow, to transition from Spring to Summer, Summer to Fall, even Fall to Winter. But Winter to Spring? It takes bravery and patience. It is never easy.
But in time, Spring will win this battle. Her first crocus is merely a beginning. Soon she will vanquish the Winter and celebrate her victory with more crocuses and daffodils and tulips under canopies of magnolia, forysythia and lilac blooms.
And I, the gardener, can merely sit and watch. I can’t make Winter move on any faster. I can only cheer Spring on, delighting in each new bloom she brings with her to my garden.
So let the battle begin. May Dreams Gardens, and the gardener, are ready.
I’m supposed to travel for an appointment tomorrow morning. Should be there at 9:00 a.m. Takes a good 45 minutes to get there. Should leave at 8:00 a.m. Hmmm. After having been housebound for the first three days this week, will I be able to get out tomorrow morning? Safely?
I am enthralled with your crocus bud. Winter continues to be “in charge” here.
Uplifting words – thank you for a good read. I’ll have to watch for the crocus now – and will be glad to have something to distract from the tornadoes and flash floods one day/snow and icy gales the next, here in Southern Missouri. Oh, and by the way your trug is wonderful – hope to see photos this summer with it brimming in garden goodies!
I can’t even find a crocus leaf yet. Your little purple blossom is lovely. The brown background really sets it off.
Lovely perky bloom. So true that we can just sit back and watch the weather do its thing.
I’m afraid if I went outside after all this rain that I’d sink to my knees in mud. May have to put on those thigh boots tomorrow and look around for crocus.
Seriously, so true about the easy transitions from one season to another, except for winter to spring. I find myself thinking about last years awful spring and longing for a smoother transition this year.
Sigh. Here I am with more snow coming down, and the only blooms are indoors, (although there ARE plenty of those, come to thik of it.) I’m not ready for spring yet anyway, so it’s okay! Really. snif.
Lovely! We are having freezing rain and snow and our first crocus will be a ways off yet, but it is nice to know that spring is indeed coming, albeit slowly, slowly.
Sigghhhh….I dont’ have any crocuses yet and I’m a good 5 miles south of you. It’s that little microclimate of yours, isn’t it?
This time of year is so depressing. Spring seems so close, yet so far. It’s like two months of teasing.
With all the crazy weather lately, I’m glad to see that spring is beginning it’s fight to push aside Winter. It was 69 degrees here in NJ yesterday. I think Summer is beginning it’s fight in my neck of the woods. 🙂
Maybe Spring has a difficult time because she is in the middle of “labor” in order to birth all of the beauty around her.~~Dee
Yippee – crack out the champagne! (I’ll find any excuse to drink it.) I think my snowdrops are blooming, but they’re buried under a couple of feet of snow & I have only ankle boots, so I can’t even get out there to dig them out. Spring, Spring, Spring…
Hey, hey, whadya say, crocus chase the winter away! (That’s cheerleading for spring in case you couldn’t tell)
What a beautiful picture that captures spring peaking out of winter!!
I just came from This Garden is Illegal and she expresses my feelings to a tee.
@$%& you, Winter, and the damn horse you rode in on too.
I’m in the middle of another winter storm warning and I don’t have much fight left in me.
Congratulations! Your first Crocus is to fresh and pretty. Well written, Carol. I can almost smell the lilacs’ fragrance wafting through my open windows…
Wonderful comments, all. Thank you for sharing in the excitment of the first crocus of spring in my garden!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens