Spring Equinox and Winter Warriors

Here we are at the Spring equinox, the point where the daylight/nighttime ratio tips towards daylight and our days become longer than our nights.
I absolutely love this time of year. From now to the summer solstice on June 20th has become my favourite season. Walking in the woods this morning I could feel that tipping point, the suppressed energy of the growing season rising through the earth. This is when the forest floor dances into life.

Before we contemplate its wonders though, let me first salute the winter warriors. Those hardy plants that have adapted to take advantage of the cool, wet, low light conditions of a west of Ireland winter. Plants like holly and ivy that seem oblivious to the autumn, who grow slowly and steadily, searching out the light when the trees have lost their leaves. They weather the winds and the storms and if damaged by a tree being toppled, they just regroup, repair and regrow
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But this year's outstanding champion has to be the moss. Maybe it was boosted by the double rainfall in February but it is robustly bolshy in size and vigour and is swallowing up all signs of human endeavour under the trees.  I'm not exaggerating, see my photos ....

So whether the moss is turning a limestone bolder into a pillow

or an old demesne boundary into a green wall

or with the help of oxidation and leaf litter, it can cause a galvanised wheelbarrow to disappear.

It even works on hiding an entire cottage - the moss is laughing at the winter as it has thrived while the beech, alder and sycamore trees have been resting.


Now as the daylight lengthens and strengthens the focus shifts to the forest floor troopers. For several weeks now the bluebell foliage has made a rush through the leaf litter to gather as much light as it can in preparation for its blue carpet season finale. When that happens it will deserve a blog post all of its own. The wild arums (lords and ladies) and up and green and soon we will see their little hooded flowers. And under the beech trees the hopeful seedlings are bursting out of their little beech nut eggs showing their gently ruffled pale green baby leaves to the world.

 
So wherever you are this equinox try to notice the changes - where the weight of winter is being shifted off nature, and the power of plants, that has been held at bay by the lack of light, is about to be unleashed. For me this is like the top of the roller coaster where the ride is about to begin - bring it on.


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