Tuesday 13 March 2012

Signs of Spring

Ah! Spring in London! The crocuses in Hyde Park...


Young Love!



(their blood must really have been warm - T and me, old fogies that we are, were carefully wrapped up in scarves, gloves, etc ... and needed them)

New leaves opening at last....



Blue hyacinth just opening


Blossom.... underneath this, the fallen petals looked like confetti.



A beautiful spray of blossom was growing out of the bottom of one of the tree trunks



The unusual crocuses below are called "Tricolor" and they can be bought here (a nice little nursery in East Yorks that does mail order).


And of course the famous two headed giraffe in Regents Park always appreciates the Spring sunshine. :D


You can get a good view of several of the zoo animals if you walk certain routes through the Regents Park.

When we lived nearby, we used to hear the wolves howling at night, a strange sound in the centre of London.

Oh, and don't forget that the giveaway (below) still has a few days to run.

41 comments:

  1. I love catching a glimpse of the penguins for free as I wander through Regents Park, and the okapis round the other side...who needs to pay for a ticket, eh? (Those tricolor crocuses are just gorgeous by the way!)

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  2. Hello Jenny:
    What a wonderfully uplifting post you treat us to here. The carpet of Crocuses is so very attractive. They always seem to be such fragile flowers and yet are able to push through near frozen solid ground to give us their spring display!

    A friend of ours is Head Gardener at Winfield House which is next door to Regent's Park and so we know that area quite well. It always amazed us that there is so much open space there right in the heart of the City.

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  3. Reminds me of a visit long ago . . . thank you for sharing Signs of Spring . . .

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  4. Our spring flowers are blooming now too but not our trees. That's ok, I'll take the beauty of spring a little at a time so that my nose can enjoy it instead of being clogged thanks to too much spring allergenic.

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  5. Oh I remember Regents Park. Isobel was at University at Bedford College back in the 60s and she was based at Hanover Lodge right close to the zoo. I can still remember hearing all the odd animal calls.

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  6. Crocuses! Makes me wish i could grow plants. We have the azaleas and dogwoods blooming, and the rest should follow soon.

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  7. It looks like you are on the same spring timetable as we are here. Isn't it glorious! I just love the first week when every new bloom brings a smile to your face.

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  8. If I were the envious type, I'd be green in the face now! We do have crocuses here, too, as well as the first primula and still a lot of snowdrops around, but our all-over weather has been much colder than yours this past winter, and it will be another few weeks before we can expect to see any blossoms on trees over here.

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  9. How lovely those frist days of spring are. I really like the photo of the blue hyacinth and can imagine the aroma.

    Darla

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  10. Gorgeous! It's been warm here, too, thought I've yet to see flowers bloom. Love the pics!

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  11. I'm officially jealous that you can already enjoy spring flowers while we're still battling through a seemingly never-ending winter.

    England must have the most gorgeous spring in the world. The colour of the blue hyacinth is SO beautiful! ^^

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  12. Thanks for the walk in the park, haven't been to Regent's Park in years. We visit England frequently, but seldomly go to London any more, not that we're tired of it, but rather that it tires us too much.

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  13. London and Regents Park in spring. It's eons since I last experienced that. But spring is just around the corner in Shropshire too, banks of daffodils in and around Shrewsbury have yet to become boring and hackneyed. For now they are new and unexpected enough to provoke endless exclamations of 'Look' from Beloved, who isn't driving and can afford to take in his surroundings.

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  14. This is one of my favourite time of year when Nature is waking up! The weather lady on the morning BBC program was in Kew gardens surrounded by thousands of daffodils, a glorious sight!!!

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  15. I guess love and passion are a type of coat. These two certainly look warm enough. Don't I sound old?

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  16. Beautiful post! I am partial to purple, so I really enjoyed seeing all these beautiful blooms!

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  17. Been decades since I felt hot blooded enough to tackle the cold ground--ROFL!
    So nice to see the flowers and green grass! LOL@the two-headed giraffe!
    Have a smiley day! :)

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  18. These are just lovely - thank you for this. It's foggy in deepest Wiltshire, so this has cheered me hugely!

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  19. What lovely photos! Thank you for posting these - they are so cheery!

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  20. It's very Springlike here too, not warm enough to be frolicking on the grass though. LOL

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  21. The tricolour crocuses are wonderful. I've never seen any like that before - not in 65 years!!

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  22. A very poetic post! spring is in your mind too! :o)

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  23. You have reminded me of another flower that I never see (the most notable being daffodils) because of my hemisphere changes which mean that I avoid springs.

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  24. What beautiful pictures. Now, if Spring could just travel 300 miles up North ...

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  25. Your spring photo are wonderful and the crocuses are fabulous.
    Beautifu spring post today !

    cheers, parsnip

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  26. A beautiful Spring post Jenny. Those gorgeous blossoms and the tricolour crocuses are such a delight. Your post brings a smile with it :D)

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  27. Oh my gosh! So many pretties to see today. I adore those crocus! And the two headed giraffe was quite the surprise!

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  28. Jenny, The pictures are wonderful. The tricolored crocus are especially lovely. I would love to have some. It looks like you had a lovely outing. Hugs! Bonnie

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  29. A Siamese twin giraffe! :)

    Spring is such a lovely season. Everything blossoms, including love. ^^

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  30. This is just lovely. I discovered Regents Park on my first visit to London less than a decade ago. I was wandering around thinking of the Mary Poppins books by PL Travers and just how accurate were her descriptions and evocations. Thankyou for this.

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  31. How lovely to see such great photos of spring arriving in London. I am just calling by to thankyou for becoming a follower of my Travel Tales Blog. I am delighted you did so as I can now follow a professional back and add this to the blog roll there. Good to meet you Jenny. :)

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  32. Love all the spring flowers it puts a spring in your step. Must take another visit to regents park zoo, i didn't see the giraffes

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  33. Beautiful blue colors! What are the trees in full blossoms? "the wolves howling at night in the center of London"! Here a Japanese wolf is thought to have become extinct 100 years ago.

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  34. Lovely colours, great pictures. Spring is indeed the best time of year, apart from today's east wind of course....
    Lovely post.

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  35. two headed giraffe...haha....i love the tricolors...and the blossom showers too.....would love to ride on one of those big red buses one day too...

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  36. The giraffe photo caught me by surprise! It is such a lovely time of year, even here. However, we are also getting what spring is known for -- spring showers! We haven't seen the sun in days, and our only consolations are the beautiful blooms and lush greenery.

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  37. Beautiful composition! You are already enjoying many sort of arrival of spring, wow...

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  38. The Tricolors are marvelous and will liven up any outdoors. I had to do a double-take on the two-headed giraffe. :P

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  39. Lovely cheerful pics! Spring has certainly sprung!

    Anna :o]

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  40. Lovely pictures. Nothing tops up a ray of sunshine in London, doesn't it?

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