1. Daffodil leaf

The year has turned. This time between the winter solstice and Brigit’s Day has a particular feel to it that is very different to the gathering darkness of December. Nature is in trickster mode - the slowly increasing daylight brings a lift to the heart yet we still have to brace ourselves against every kind of winter weather the Atlantic can throw ashore.

Snow falling on the Samhain (winter) garden

Today it snowed, a rare event here so close to the ocean. It was typical Connemara snow, not light and crystalline but falling in heavy, wet flakes that lasted only a few hours. But it was wonderful, and utterly transformative. The Gardens felt bleak and monochrome but also peaceful and at rest. Everything was black, white, grey.

Well, almost everything, because my eye was drawn to the vibrant-green spikes of daffodils pushing up through the snow. I love the resiliance of daffodils. Undeterred by frost, gales, lashing rain and the full force of winter they start growing when everything else stops, first sending out their white roots in the darkness underground and then pushing their green shoots upwards. To me they are wonderful symbols of hope, of the possibility of renewal and growth even in the most challenging circumstances. I picked a leaf and and it felt appropriate that a daffodil should be the first of my 104 objects. Winter is still with us, but the leaf carries the promise of spring and the year to come.