Is it my imagination or has spring blossom been especially rich and spectacular this year? Or is it perhaps because as the years roll by we begin to appreciate the beauty of the natural world more and more.
Anyway, from blackthorn through to wild cherries;horse chestnut; wisteria; hawthorn and others and now lilac and elder, all enhanced by a lush backcloth of vibrant green foliage, the myriad colours have been a delight to the eye.
Associated with hawthorn is an ancient nursery rhyme that runs 'here we come gathering nuts in May'. Of course, nuts don't ripen until the autumn but 'nuts' is a corruption of 'knots', being the tight unopened buds of hawthorn blossom which children used to gather and eat along with the fresh green leaves, apparently having a nutty taste and called 'bread and cheese'.
I cherish the memory of my childhood garden in which grew a white lilac I loved to climb and watch butterflies feeding on flowers.
Wild flowers too have bloomed well. Snowdrops; daffodils; primroses; swathes of lawn daisies looking like fresh snow falls among golden dandelions and green alkanet.The only disappointment concerns our bluebells that flowered earlier than usual then went to seed very quickly, almost over in the blink of an eye!
Now is the time for beautiful yellow iris and ox-eye daisies, (pictured) my favourite flower of all. The title daisy is derived from the ancient 'days-eye', likened to a small sun from which radiate the petals or rays.
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