Flowers of Spring

Spring flowers are the best. Winter has its snowdrops, and summer its profusion of blooms in overblown fecundity, but in late March and early April the light returns with an intensity that never fails to thrill. The woodland birds burst into song, the trees open tender leaves in brilliant lime green (beech leaves are edible right now) and the forest floor is bathed in light.

Woodland path in spring:

The woodland floor responds with delicate splashes of colour. Unlike summer, when everything comes out all at once, spring is a parade of beauty, all the more exquisite for limiting us to a couple of flowers at a time. 

First come the wood anenomes and celandines:

Then the wild garlic and the delicate wood sorrel:

Finally, as we ease into summer, the bluebells and stitchworts:

It's now light between 5am and 9 at night, plenty for everybody, pigeons are cooing contentedly and a deer watches us warily across the dean. This - right now - is my favourite time of year.