Copyright © Louise Bostock 2007-2013. Please give credit where credit is due.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Carmine spring watch 2011: hazel

Another bright and beautiful day, but today there's a stiff, blustery, laundry-drying wind. Time to open all the windows and doors and let the fresh air in!



The hazel catkins are out all over Carmine and beyond. Now, I know that hazel is classified as a winter-flowering plant, but the catkins remind me that spring cannot be far away, and that's good enough for me. 

They also remind me of my earliest, most magical school days when in January every classroom had its jar of catkins, and I associated them with kittens' tails and caterpillars. An association that, happily, has never really gone away.

4 comments:

Woodman said...

You are so lucky being that far south. We are still experiencing sharp overnight frosts. Good to see the first signs of your spring in the photograph.

Karin said...

Oh, I'm so glad for you and wish that were true here as well! It will be a couple of MONTHS before we see any of this! Enjoy!

Toyin O. said...

nice picture, thanks for sharing.

chrysalis said...

Have to wait till April here, I think. Still I have loads of spring bulbs in assorted pots to grace my doorstep as soon as they flower. They are about an inch above the soil. So something to look forward to especially the little Tete a tete daffodils which flower in February.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Carmine spring watch 2011: hazel

Another bright and beautiful day, but today there's a stiff, blustery, laundry-drying wind. Time to open all the windows and doors and let the fresh air in!



The hazel catkins are out all over Carmine and beyond. Now, I know that hazel is classified as a winter-flowering plant, but the catkins remind me that spring cannot be far away, and that's good enough for me. 

They also remind me of my earliest, most magical school days when in January every classroom had its jar of catkins, and I associated them with kittens' tails and caterpillars. An association that, happily, has never really gone away.

4 comments:

Woodman said...

You are so lucky being that far south. We are still experiencing sharp overnight frosts. Good to see the first signs of your spring in the photograph.

Karin said...

Oh, I'm so glad for you and wish that were true here as well! It will be a couple of MONTHS before we see any of this! Enjoy!

Toyin O. said...

nice picture, thanks for sharing.

chrysalis said...

Have to wait till April here, I think. Still I have loads of spring bulbs in assorted pots to grace my doorstep as soon as they flower. They are about an inch above the soil. So something to look forward to especially the little Tete a tete daffodils which flower in February.