I think we all are chomping at the bit to see color and flowers. This past winter was especially cold (one of the first years in a while when the ground froze and stayed frozen), and the idea of spring flowers feels like a dream that can’t come true soon enough. I am pleased to tell you that spring is indeed arriving across the property here at Blithewold. For those of you who pay attention to phenology, we are about 7-10 days behind the bloom schedule of the last few years. That being said, the daffodils are beginning to wake up and their buds are poised to produce a glorious season of blooms.

Here is a bit of a sneak peek:

These are the first flowers to bravely open in the Bosquet. Narcissus ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘King Alfred’ are among the first to bloom for us every year. Soon the whole Bosquet will be full of these flowers (and many other cultivars). I, personally, do not wish to rush them. Their season often goes by too quickly for my liking. They will last longer if temperatures stay cool, so take that as your opportunity to appreciate cooler spring weather.

If you have visited us on one of our recent winter weekends, you may have had the chance to see our very earliest daffodils to bloom in the Dry Shade Garden. Narcissus ‘Little Gem’ is always the harbinger of spring for us at Blithewold. It opens soon after the snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) and reticulated iris (Iris reticulata) bloom in the garden just outside the Rose Garden.

I was amused when I was taking pictures this week to see this small pocket of Narcissus ‘February Gold’ in bloom. As the image on the left below shows, most of the blooms are still budded and not yet in flower. However, the bulbs planted closest to the manor are benefiting from the radiant heat of the building and also from the protection from the wind. This is the power of a microclimate. Just a few feet difference can change the timing of bloom by up to a week or more.

One of my favorite observations in my walk around the property was this clump of daffodils pictured here. You can see the flower buds slowly nodding forward in their preparation to bloom. They all begin like arrows pointing to the sky, then tilt their heads down with the increasing weight of the flower about to burst into bloom. It is as if they are all nodding their heads, saying “yes, yes, spring is coming.”

Spring is coming, indeed. See you around the property soon!