Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The white angels of Springtime


I've never been much of a gardener, although there was a time when I knew all the Latin names of every plant in our garden and most of the ones in the plant nurseries. Maybe that's because I was more interested in reading books about plants and gardens than I was in getting my hands dirty and my muscles sore actually doing the work.

That last statement is not quite the whole truth because, to be honest, the bits of gardening I enjoyed most were building walls and fences, laying paths and erecting greenhouses. (All of which I have done at one time or another.)

Nowadays, though, the best bits in my garden are the bits where things happen without human intervention and where the absolute minimum of human effort is required to clear away the weeds. That means especially under the trees. And right now it means... SNOWDROPS!

They were getting a bit of a battering today with the strong winds and lashing rain so I couldn't zoom in too closely. It wouldn't have been fair on them. They are models of simple perfection and we shouldn't take too much notice of their momentarily ruffled appearance and temporary blemishes. They will bounce back to normal when the weather improves.

To me snowdrops are the most amazing flowers because of their combination of delicate fragility and dogged tenacity. To all of us in Scotland they are now always associated with Dunblane. But even here they were a symbol of hope and a sign of a future that refuses to lie down to anything that the past or the present might heap upon it.

Perhaps the thing I like most about snowdrops is that in some ways they can be incredibly difficult for gardeners to grow from scratch. But if they appear by themselves, and look after themselves, they flourish year after year with carefree abandon. That's my kind of gardening now.

7 comments:

Cherie said...

Inspiring!!

Pretty pretty flowers.

I have daffodills and crocus preparing to bloom, It snowed last night. Winter and Spring are battling it out here in Oregon.

But the hardy spring flowers do win out, don't they, in the end.

Great post!

IAIN CUNNINGHAM said...

Thanks, Cherie.

Anonymous said...

Iain, I've been using this poem by Kate McIlhagga in my Lenten reflections:

Into the dark world
a snowdrop comes,
a blessing of hope and peace
carrying within it a green heart:
symbol of God’s renewing love.
Come to inhabit our darkness, Lord Christ,
for dark and light are alike to you.
May nature’s white candles of hope
remind us of your birth
and lighten our journey
through Lent and beyond.

Snowdrops are really special
Liz

IAIN CUNNINGHAM said...

I don't know which Liz you are but thanks for that lovely poem. I don't think I've ever read it before. It would have been a perfect way to finish the post.

Shony said...

I like snow drops but I love sun flowers. I have thought about trying to grow sunflowers but I am a hopless gardener. Any plants I have I manage to kill such as a spider plant and a cactus! Apparently the two hardest plants to kill. At the moment I have a lovely flowering plant in my flat that I got as a gift only a week and a half ago and already it is looking very sad and I dont think it is going to survive much longer :-( Is it not worrying though according to the news that flowers are appearing much earlier than normal? I say according to the news but in January at my old flat a tub of bulbs(belonging to my neighbour I should point out) started to grow. Was a very thought stopping moment to observe this. Global warming?

IAIN CUNNINGHAM said...

Yes. I think global warming probably has something to do with it. Yesterday at crematorium I noticed not just crocuses but daffodils in bloom- and yesterday was still February.
As for your houseplants, Shona, try not to drown them with too much water in the winter time, and keep them out of draughts. Sometimes it is about finding the right place where they get the right amount of daylight. Now, there's advice from an expert gardener.... ahem...

Shony said...

Thanks for the plant tips will give it a go and see what happens.