pioneers of spring

Every flower seems like an achievement in the early days of spring. A clump of pioneer Daffodils in the nature park gets a cheer, the first Coltsfoot on the towpath a fistpump:

 

The planted-up town flower beds are no less worthy of celebration, surrounded as they are with cold stone and the bitter tang of diesel fumes:



This Primula and Tulip mix is installed outside the Ashmolean. Short little Tulips that hug the ground, Primulas to shrug off the hard winds in pale and breathtaking blue.

But here are my two favourite treasures of the first week of spring:



The first Celandine, a little wind-burned and barely half open, but there shining like a tiny sun in the tired  winter grass; and a self-seeded Grape Hyacinth that found a cosy crack in sun-warmed concrete and tarmac, come out early to charm the dozy bees.