I usually avoid republishing images that were recently posted to one of my social media accounts, but when you consider how hard won this spring feels and the fact that this little flower was trapped underneath a deep lake of ice less than a week ago… I think it begs repeating here.

And now, we take a moment to do a happy dance.

Snowdrops (Galanthus) are not typically the first flower of spring in my garden. It is usually winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) that pops its head up to greet the new season, sometimes as early as February. This year everything is behind schedule by at least a few weeks (if not four) and the winter aconite is inexplicably absent.

For days I’ve been surveying the garden like a detective, and while there have been leafy bits, this is the first flower to appear. I was out twice this morning and didn’t catch it until the third try at around 11am when my dog Molly came up to my desk and insisted that we go out again. Its amazing how much the garden grows with just a few hours in the sun’s warmth. Blink and you miss it.