VenetiaJane’s Garden

Bright yellow daffodils with deep orange trumpet coronas in spring sunlight, photographed close-up with soft green foliage and more blooms blurred in the background. One fresh flower faces forward while another nearby shows a slightly withered petal.

The word ‘jubilant’ comes from Latin ‘jubilare’ meaning to “shout for joy” or “rejoice”, and is sometimes associated with a fanfare of trumpets. What better word to describe daffodils, the colourful trumpet-flowers that herald the arrival of spring! #FlowersOnFriday

Cicely Mary Barker has given her primrose fairy the wings of a yellow brimstone butterfly, hence each wing has two parts, the top of the other wing just visible. Brimstones first appear around the time the primroses start to flower. Here’s a photo I took a few summers ago, for comparison.

Correction, not cherry blossom but Prunus mume, commonly known as Japanese apricot or the Chinese plum tree. I photographed the label on the tree, so should have got that right 😂

Nine close-up photographs of bumblebees visiting pale pink cherry blossom. The bees cling to the flowers and buds while feeding on nectar, their fuzzy black-and-yellow bodies dusted with pollen against soft blue spring skies and blurred green backgrounds.

“I have somewhere seen it observed that we should make the same use of a book as a bee does of a flower; she steals sweets from it, but does not injure it.”

-Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)

Bumblebees gently “stealing sweets” from cherry blossom in celebration of #WorldBookDay

The illustration I used to illustrate the story is the Primrose Fairy by the artist and creator of The Flower Fairies, the very talented Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973). I gave the credit in the alt text yesterday, but forgot to write it in the thread too!

I wish the primrose fairy would magic my wrinkles away. She’d be welcome to them! 😂

Interestingly, the crinkled leaves of primroses (Primula vulgaris) & cowslips (Primula veris) were once believed to smooth away wrinkles. Leaves were lightly steamed and laid on the skin as a simple cosmetic remedy.

Illustration of the Primrose Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker: a small fairy with pale yellow wings and a primrose-petal dress holding a large primrose flower and its wrinkled leaf, the creases clearly visible, against a soft natural background.

Once upon a time primroses had smooth leaves, but rain ran down them and spoiled the flowers. The primrose fairy worried so much that wrinkles formed on her brow. Magicking them away, she pressed them into the leaves, where to this day they guide rain safely away from the blooms.

The botanical illustration I used in my collage to illustrate this post is from the book ‘Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen’ (1796) by Johann Georg Sturm (painted by Jacob Sturm).

Collage of lesser celandine, Ficaria verna (syn. Ranunculus ficaria): at left, a vintage botanical illustration from Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen by Johann Georg Sturm (painted by Jacob Sturm) showing labelled flower parts, leaves, roots and seed; at right, a bright yellow bloom in close-up above a green woodland carpet filled with flowering celandines.

“There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine,
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain;
And the first moment that the sun may shine,
Bright as the sun himself, ’tis out again!”

— William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

The Celts named this sun-seeking flower grian, meaning “sun”.

A collage of close-up photographs showing early spring budburst on trees and shrubs. Swollen pink and red buds, fresh green leaf shoots, unfurling scales, and pale catkins are shown against soft blurred backgrounds, illustrating sap rising and plants coming back into life in March.

March’s full moon, rising on 3rd March, is called the Worm Moon or the Sap Moon. As the soil warms, earthworms emerge, and plants stir as sap rises and buds begin to unfurl. This year’s March Moon is especially notable as it coincides with a total lunar eclipse in the night sky.

A collage of early spring wildflowers photographed in soft natural light: purple periwinkle, bright yellow coltsfoot, pale primrose, white snowdrops, cherry blossom, a nodding yellow daffodil with raindrops, lilac Balkan anemone, vivid blue Siberian squill, delicate white hollowroot, and glossy yellow lesser celandine, all set against blurred green backgrounds.

“No summer flowers are half so sweet
As those of early Spring” — Old English saying

Periwinkle, coltsfoot, primrose, snowdrops, cherry blossom, daffodil, Balkan anemone, Siberian squill, hollowroot and lesser celandine — found for the final #TheWinter10. #WildflowerHour

A 3×3 collage of close-up photographs of daffodils in bloom, showing different varieties in shades of yellow and white. Some have bright golden trumpets, others pale petals with contrasting cups, all set against soft green garden backgrounds.

According to old tradition, daffodils bloom around 1st March in honour of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. His feast day falls on this date and coincides with the beginning of meteorological spring. #StDavidsDay #FolkloreSunday

A bright patch of lawn scattered with small white daisies, each with golden-yellow centres, rising on slender stems among fresh green grass. The flowers are open and sunlit, some facing the camera, others tilted at different angles, creating a natural, abundant spring carpet effect.

There’s an old saying that spring hasn’t truly arrived until you can cover seven daisies — nine, or twelve in some beliefs — with your foot’s shadow in a single patch. In Germany they are called “Tausendschön”, meaning “thousand times beautiful” — and what could be more fitting?

“White, as falls the fleecy shower,
Thy soft form in sweetness grows;
Not more fair the valley’s treasure,
Not more sweet her lily blows.”

— from ‘To a Snowdrop’ by John Langhorne (1735–1779)

Collage of six butterfly photographs in soft green light: a small tortoiseshell on pink oregano flowers, a peacock butterfly on lavender, a meadow brown on clover, a white butterfly on purple blooms, a red admiral on lavender, and another white butterfly among green stems.

A Chumash legend tells that when the Earth was created the Great Spirit adorned the dark mountains with small colourful stones. The South Wind, marvelling at their beauty, breathed life into them. They grew wings, fluttered away and became the first butterflies. #FolkloreThursday

Good morning, Steph 😊👋. The sunshine yesterday certainly brought a few out. I saw several big bumblebees bumbling about looking for places to nest or nectar to gather! Let’s hope today is another lovely day ☀️🐝xx

A beautiful gathering of hellebores! 💕

Nine-square collage of spring flowers including yellow daffodil, white hellebore with purple freckled markings, yellow Doronicum, pink blossom, primulas, purple fritillary, violet anemone, blue Siberian squill, and pink hyacinth, each shown in close botanical detail against soft green backgrounds.

Philocaly means the love of beauty or the appreciation of aesthetic, artistic, and natural beauty. The word comes from Ancient Greek φιλόκᾰλος, derived from φίλος (loving) and κᾰλος (beauty). A person who possesses these qualities is known as a philocalist.

Soft pink hellebore flower in close-up, its petals flushed blush and cream with speckled throats and pale yellow stamens. Fresh green bracts arch above, with a dusky bud and blurred blooms behind, set against a gentle, muted garden background.

“Wakes on high the early morning,
With a blush its cheek adorning,
Ah! fair flow’rs, why sleep ye still?
Open again your eyelids sweetly,
Strength renew’d is yours completely,
With new life your bosom fill.”

— from The Flower’s Prayer, a hymn of spring by Franz Abt (1819–1885)

Three-panel collage of hazel branches in late winter. Top left shows a tree hung with numerous pale yellow catkins among bare, mossy twigs against a blue sky. Bottom left and right panels are close-ups of dangling golden catkins, some releasing pollen, against a softly blurred background.

“Small beauty hath my unsung flower,
For spring to own or summer hail;
But, in the season’s saddest hour,
To skies that weep and winds that wail
Its glad surprisals never fail.”

— from Hazel Blossoms by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

Four-image collage: a honeybee feeding on purple lavender; a woven wicker bee sculpture suspended outdoors; a small wooden beehive standing in grass; and a close-up of a honeybee collecting nectar from lavender blooms.

Anglo-Saxons valued honey for mead, for medicine, and as a precious sweetener. Charms were spoken to bind a swarm to its beekeeper:

“Sit, ye siegewives, sink to earth.
Never ye wild to the wood fly.
Be ye so mindful of my goods
As is every man of food and home.”

#FolkloreSunday

🎉🥳🐴

These are beautiful! I particularly like the second one with the pointy petals. Gorgeous! 🤩

Thank you! It’s wonderful to see more and more flowers gradually appearing. There’s so much inspiration to be found out there 📷

So bright and colourful! I hope you have a good weekend, Ben 😊👋

Thank you, Rebecca. I hope you have a good weekend 😊👋

Me too! This type of thing makes me feel so anxious 😞

They are lovely flowers that will certainly brighten up the late-winter garden with their beauty! x

Four-panel collage of early spring crocuses: white blooms with purple bases in grass, a cluster of golden yellow crocuses, vibrant purple flowers among leaves, and a carpet of lilac crocuses beneath mossy trees beside a small stream.

“Come gather the crocus-cups with me,
And dream of the summer coming;
Saffron, and purple, and snowy white,
All awake to the first bees humming.”

- Sebastian Evans (1830-1909)

Close view of two white snowdrops nodding on slender green stems, their petals tipped with soft green markings and faint droplets, set against a muted, blurred background of late winter tones.

A legend tells that “beautiful, brave-hearted Hope” bends over the cold and lifeless earth in winter, her tears falling in compassion. Where they touch the frozen ground, snowdrops rise in their stead, Hope’s tender gift, pale messengers of comfort and solace in the darkest days.