The Primrose opens wide in spring.
Her scent is sweet and good.
It smells of every happy thing.
In sunny lane and wood.
Illustrations and poems by Cicely Mary Barker, from the Flower Fairies series.
Today while out walking with the dogs we had a sudden blizzard of ‘corn snow’. My little Yorkie despite being dressed for the weather sat down and protested that it was too much! Unike ‘hail’ which can hurt, corn snow is lighter but can still sting. The Scots, Inuit and other cultures have many words for different types of snow. Apparently the technical term for corn snow is actually graupel. Graupel looks like tiny Styrofoam pellets and is formed when moisture freezes on to snow crystals. The reason I write about this is because it is to point out why all plants are staying tucked in underground. It is far from Spring here but we can imagine and pretend if we have primroses purchased from the supermarket.
I did go out and trim a piece off my Forsythia two weeks ago just to see if I could trick it into blooming yet. Forsythia is an easy branch to force inside if you do not cut it too early. Indeed it did bloom so today for, ‘In a Vase’ I contemplated what I could put with one small twig of yellow flowering Forsythia. I had three store-bought primula displayed in a container and one was yellow so after trimming down its roots and leaves I put it in an ikebana vase along with the small cutting and the ever useful Sempervivens. This is the result.
This little arrangement then went off to the gallery where our local library has an an exhibition. I placed it with my little collection of Cicely Mary Barker, Flower Fairy Books. ‘Spring Flower Fairies’ is open at the Primrose page. I have loved these books since childhood although this mini set is new. I hope children are still exposed to their sweet verses and illustrations.
Thank you Cathy of Rambling In the Garden for hosting this flower lovers Monday activity. To see more February arrangements from different parts of the world head over to
Rambling In The Garden blog, https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/
An afterthought! As so many IAVOM posts this week contained pink blooms I thought I would add my pink extravaganza!
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