Isn't spring just the most wonderful time!

The sun feels warmer with each passing day. The birds appear to be louder every morning. And as for the flowers... well! Everywhere I look is a profusion of colour and the nodding trumpets of spring bulbs.

However, each year my prize for the most stunning spring flower display always goes to the most MAGNIFICENT magnolia tree I have ever seen. Its tucked away on a road in north west London. But it is huge and always full of blooms. For the rest of the year it is quiet unremarkable but in February the buds thicken and bulge until their burgeoning size bursts the seams and the furry bracts are propelled to the ground. Today the buds were huge and clearly about to unveil their true splendour...

(The photo I've attached is from a couple of years ago)

What is about spring that lifts the heart so much? Is it the fact that we all long to emerge from the dark cold days of winter; to end our semi-hibernation? Is it because the lengthening days encourage us to anticipate the warm weeks ahead? Is it because (new) life is just so obvious and so abundant all around us?

I think its a combination of all of them and more... and it works like a charm every year!