Snowdrops don't last for long but in the British Isles they are the true heralds of springtime. And can there be a finer place to see snowdrops in bloom than in the grounds of Hodsock Priory - just over the border in Nottinghamshire? Shirley and I had never been there before this morning. The "window of opportunity" only lasts for a fortnight and of course you want to see the flowers in sunshine not beneath overcast skies:-
The Snow Drop
The Snow-Drop - winter’s timid child
Awakes to life bedew’d with tears;
And flings around its fragrance mild,
And where no rival flowerets bloom,
Amidst the bare and chilling gloom,
A beauteous gem appears!
Mary Robinson (1757-1800)
Yes Hodsock Priory is a beautiful place to visit, and the Snowdrop walk!....but not been recently.
ReplyDeleteAs a Sheffielder I have enjoyed visiting your Blog,and reading of your walks in Derbyshire, and revisiting familiar places.
Aileen
AILEEN Thanks for dropping by and leaving such a nice, encouraging comment.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos, YP. The daffodils there are well ahead of ours, which don't look as if they will be out for St David's Day on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteJENNY You'll just have to shove bunches of leeks in your vases then!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely!
ReplyDeleteAround here the first thing to appear each spring are jonquils (miniature daffodils), then forsythia, then lavender phlox, then azaleas of varying hues, and overhead the flowering peach, flowering cherry, wild dogwood, and redbud are blossoming.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta springs are extravagantly beautiful.
England is nice, too.
RHYMES WITH... I remember Eastertime 2002 when we stayed for a while in the Decatur suburb of eastern Atlanta. I was surprised at how chilly it was when I walked out one night to visit a local bar and saw buds beginning to sprout on several of the otherwise bare trees I passed.It's not how I'd imagined sultry Georgia to be and I realised you also have a long wait for springtime.
ReplyDeleteAnother reminder of how lovely this countryside is, if we take time to look at it.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely. On each visit to the UK we have always timed it so as to see bluebell woods somewhere. But those snowdrops are wonderful too. Is there anywhere where lilly-of-the-valley grow in abundance? Now that was my mother's *favourite* flower.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are so consistently breathtaking recently, I've run out of superlatives YP.