I have always considered autumn to be my favourite season, with its cool, crisp air and distinctly autumnal scent of drying leaves that come together to create a moody atmospheric aesthetic. In recent years, I have come to see the simple beauty of spring and find in it a message of optimism and inspiration.
The winters in Ottawa can be cold and harsh, making the emergence of new growth, almost as soon as the snow starts to melt to reveal the ground beneath, seem extraordinary. It is amazing to think that the plant’s root systems can withstand the freezing temperatures, especially plants that seem so fragile, such as the wild pansy or the chamomile, which are some of the first perennials to proliferate in the garden.
This year, I even noticed that the daffodils were pushing through the snow to get to the sun. I can say that moving to this colder climate with harsh winters from a milder climate has made me respect the resilience of nature even more.
Although, sometimes it feels like spring is just a battleground between winter and summer. Autumn has a similar dynamic, but it doesn’t seem as pronounced most years, probably because a lingering summer in autumn is not as unwelcome as a lingering winter in spring. This year’s spring has had a lingering winter; the snow just didn’t want to go away! But there were a few really nice, typical spring days at the end of March that the bulbs and buds took full advantage of. Then, just a day or two later, at the beginning of April, winter came back with an ice storm complete with lingering power outages.
Within a week of the ice storm, summer was in full force, with temperatures in the mid to high 20s (Celsius) for a week before the cold, dark days returned. The main lesson of spring in Ottawa that I have learned is that when there is nice weather in the spring, make sure to get out and enjoy the good weather while it lasts.
Despite the mixed weather, the march of spring has continued unabated. I was worried that the green buds and the newly opened crocuses would be harmed in the ice storm, but once the ice melted, there were no signs of harm, and they continued on as if they weren’t just encased in ice.
There have been years where spring cold snaps have harmed new growth, especially lilac flowers, but this year I have been in awe of the resilience and persistence that the new spring growth has shown in the face of challenges, and I can’t help but see these events as lessons to incorporate into my own life and how I perceive things.
The Heron and Rose 