Wednesday 4 March 2015

March,



the month of new life, is named after Mars, the Roman God of War. It’s only the fourth day today and already March has lived up to its name and nature, roaring in like a lion. To a gardener like me it seems to be the most provocative and exciting month of the year, full of promise, albeit broken at a moment’s notice. March flirts with the sun, calling you out to admire the many signs of new growth, only to fling pellets of hail at you the moment you put your trust in the brave light. Blizzards, showers of grey, cold rain, followed by the treacherous breath of a soft south westerly breeze which quickly turns into an icy gale bringing renewed snow flurries as soon as you discard your woolly hat.  My longing for an hour in the garden lures me out to prowl among the beds and borders, secateurs at the ready; twenty minutes later I scuttle back to my warm hearth, fingers frozen. Even the most battle-hardened gardener’s enthusiasm is forced to retreat before the eccentricities of the March barometer.

And yet...


the crocuses are out in their early glory. They may be small and unremarkable, but look closely and their simple beauty will astound you. Then there’s the pigeon taking a long, slow look at the huge conifer in the hedge which year after year provides a home for it and its family.
It’s the early bird which takes up residence in good time, ensuring a favourable position on the housing ladder.



And then

there are the glossy leaved periwinkles, evergreen and growing anywhere, in sun and shade, in woodlands or as here, with  roots in the foundations of a brick wall. In a mild winter the periwinkle will give you a few blossoms as early as January.

In France the periwinkle, which is sometimes called ‘the Magician’s Violet’, is considered the emblem of sincere friendship, and as such is much used in their language of flowers. The English have adopted this evergreen plant as the representative of ‘Tender Recollection’. In Italy the country people make garlands of this plant, to place upon the biers of their deceased children, for which reason they name it the ‘Flower of Death’. But in Germany it is the symbol of immortality, and, because its fine glossy myrtle-green leaves flourish all through the winter, they term it ‘Wintergreen’.

From The Language of Flowers 19th Century


42 comments:

  1. I just gasped at that picture of the crocus, it's so beautiful and just my color. We are having spring coming in everywhere around here, too. But I have only seen a few crocus at a time, nothing like that display! :-)

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  2. What stunning crocuses. Did you grow them? Mine always look a bit weedy...

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  3. I choked on my drink when I read that you list periwinkle as an evergreen. It certainly was a strangled and a struggling small shrub down in Florida when I was visiting. Up here is it an annual bedding plant. This really gives me insight into your climate. We are getting 2-5 inches of snow tonight followed by sleet tomorrow.

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  4. It's comforting that as the colour is dying off in my garden, somewhere else things are springing back to life. That crocus must surely gladden your heart!

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  5. Periwinkle is one of my favorites - the ones that I grow (and won't see here for at least three months) are even prettier contrasted with the yellow of the daffodils that come up at the same time.
    If I can't enjoy spring yet, I'm glad I can enjoy it vicariously through your blog.

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  6. Your dazzling crocus takes my breath away. Glorious periwinkle and oh, those green hills. Yes, you can live with wind or an ice spatter because you know -- you just KNOW -- that spring isn't far behind! Lovely -- you give me hope!

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  7. How pleasant to walk the seasons with you! Hows our girl Millie?


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  8. Genuine gardeners get revved up in March. sometimes there's nothing to do but gardeners get anxious. I like the smell when sap starts moving in trees.

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  9. How lovely. We have periwinkle blooming in front of our house right now; it thrives where almost nothing else wants to grow.

    And really, is there anything more perfect then a crocus? Reason enough to love February and March.

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  10. I so enjoy the picture of the periwinkle. The flowers should not be showing their faces just yet, as they might get nipped in the frost.

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  11. The periwinkle - which we call vinca here and is a quite invasive plant - is beautiful, I like it against the brick wall. I have a vinca growing through the fence from my neighbors and I wonder where it will go from there. I will make sure to keep it under control, but because it's so beautiful I let it ramble for the time being.

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  12. Crocuses are small, yes, as are snowdrops and aconites, but they are all beautiful! I love looking at them in the gardens where I walk past every morning on my way to the station. One garden in particular is my favourite, it looks like a carpet of crocuses and snowdrops covering the ground. Maybe I'll sneak a picture of it one day; it's just that there are always other people around at that time of the day, and they would find it suspicious to see a stranger taking pictures of someone's garden and maybe house.

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  13. What a lovely homage to March, the harbinger of new growth, making promises and in the end actually keeping them, yes in between with a few furious reminders not to take any thing for granted.
    I love your wonderful photos, the crocuses are gorgeous, and the periwinkles always remind me of Hyacinth's beloved dishes. :-)

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  14. I think that is technically a "collared dove". So much posher than a mere pigeon: it clearly knows an upmarket nesting area when it finds one!

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  15. heerlijk dit jaargeteide gaat alles weere langszaam open alsof alles ontwaakt.

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  16. I just love that big bunch of crocuses! :)
    And I didn't know about the "Wintergrün",
    so I googled for it. Yours is an "Immergrün" :))
    And the "Wintergrün" comes from the
    family of Ericas.
    Great, learned two new things today! :))
    Have a beautiful day
    【ツ】Knipsa

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  17. I am most happy someone is having Spring somewhere. WE unfortunately, are still buried under 7 feet and more of snow, so it'll be a while......unless Mother Nature gives us an early "WARM SURPRISE", which I almost hope not, for we would be in a slushy mess. Hope and warmth are just around the corner for me. Loved your post. Have a wonderful day.

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  18. Yo described March so well. We are first filled with hope, then marred by disappointment, only to be surprised by the beauty that is springing up around us.

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  19. A foot of snow, -4F - and I was looking for signs of daffodils. None, yet . . .

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  20. I remember how enthusiastic I was in March when in England...and in February when in France....spring was on its way - heralded as in your lovely photographs, by the periwinkle and the crocuses.
    How's Millie getting on?

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  21. IThere are so many spring flowers that I love that aren't part of my neighborhood. Crocus is one. Your photo is gorgeous. It's interesting to read above that your periwinkle is also known as vinca. We do have vinca, but I wouldn't have recognized the periwinkle as such. Context is everything, I suppose. It's like trying to sort of the various yellow, daisy-like flowers around here. The wildflower experts I know refer to them as DYCs -- darned yellow composites.

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  22. Cycling home yesterday was suddenly like being in a snow globe ! And today the sun's beaming at us again .
    Either way , it's cold and the snowdrops look frozen . Another week or two and we'll all be fine ...
    (spring onions cost 50 cents a bunch , by the way .)

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  23. I needed this post today, you don't know how much :)

    XO
    WWW

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  24. Stunning photos. Thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  25. Happy March! I love that picture of the pigeon :)

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  26. we are having a day or two of cold winter again. Things are trying to bloom. my bletilla (ground orchid) are so tender that I haven't had any decent blooms on them for 3 years. every time they start to emerge, it dips down to freezing again. twice this year already and the bloom stalks that were latest to emerge will get frozen tonight.

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  27. Friko, how grateful I am for your showing us how March can be welcoming to colorful flowers. And birds, too.

    I love the colors in the photo of the periwinkle against the bricks...they actually remind me of some combinations to be found in Gauguin paintings. That's a very pleasing and even warming connection to make, as more snow continues to fall hereabouts. Perhaps about eight inches more before the flakes cease.

    xo

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  28. wow that croccus patch is beautiful...
    we are in an ice storm right now...so...march is fickle..
    and often the cruelest month here...it was high 50s yesterday
    and i wore a tshirt...
    today it is in the 30s and icing...and tomorrow it will be 14 as the high...

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  29. The pictures are breath-taking and wonderful to stare at because I now stare at a frozen snow covered land.

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  30. Love your ode to March. If only it didn't feel like January around where I live ...

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  31. Pretty pics. I'm jealous, we are not even close to that. It's supposed to be zero tomorrow morning, I'm told.

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  32. Lovely, and it gives me hope. We are still buried in snow, with more added this week. But it has to pass, and I look forward to seeing bright little flowers emerge, like the ones you show here. Happy spring!

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  33. I'm going to enjoy your emerging garden. I can grow periwinkle here at high altitude. It's already greening as the snow melts off it sometime in May.

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  34. March flirts with rain and cold here in Belgium. I haven't seen a single flower in our street yet !

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  35. Your crocuses are magnificent, the voles ate mine I think. Except yellow, thy don't like yellow, wonder why? Periwinkle is a weed here, well, very nearly.

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  36. Snow covering the ground here by the woods.
    Trees still sparkle with ice
    but you have reminded me of what is to come...
    Spring
    this one is waiting for you.

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  37. March, it is March indeed. I was telling my mother that spring is in England and Wales. We have about five inches of snow on the ground here. It was a glorious day though because it was warm and sunny. I've not seen a crocus, nor a daffodil, nor anything green. All is covered in snow and dead. Soon, it will be spring here. Your post gives me that hope.

    Periwinkle is a beautiful flower, and I do admire its green leaves, but in our small gardens over here, it can take over and choke out everything else. For years, I fought it, pulling it out only to have its tendrils coming up in new places in my garden where I used to live. Finally, I got rid of it all. It took taking out an old tree that was struck by lightening to totally eradicate it. Now, I read these lovely words about this plant, and I feel a bit ashamed. I should have embraced it more. I wonder what my daughter will say about this. I join her every year tugging and pulling it out of her yard where it has entwined itself in an old rock wall. Perhaps we should just let it go. I see why it is the symbol of immortality.

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  38. March came in like a lamb here in Alberta ... that means it might very well go out like a lion ... so enjoying your pics and words, Friko ... thank you for sharing. Love, cat.

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  39. We have had an unusually snowy winter - it has just finally melted away and I can see crocuses blooming. About time!

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  40. Wow, those crocuses! March is playing with us this year, with the temperature back around 5C again now. In this new garden I keep looking round for signs of new growth to see what we have here.

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  41. i love that I've been reading your blog for enough years to think, "Ahhhh, it's time for some posts about spring beauty in Friko's neck of the woods." We're having a warm week here, and, like you, my thoughts are turning to the gardens.

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  42. How fortunate that your spring fauna and flora have shown themselves. As of today our yard still has only a blankey of snow and more shall fall this night:(

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