Ημερολόγιο της/του melindacreech

Dorothy makes a few more flora observations in February. Signs of spring are coming. The hepaticas are blooming and the snowdrops are about to open.

snowdrops [Galanthus nivalis]—On 14 February 1802 Dorothy notes that it is “a fine morning but it has been a hard frost in the night. There are some little snowdrops that are afraid to pop their white heads quite out, & a few blossoms of Hepatica that are half starved.”

hepatica [Hepatica nobilis] — On 14 February 1802 “a fine morning but it has been a hard frost in the night. There are some little snowdrops that are afraid to pop their white heads quite out, & a few blossoms of Hepatica that are half starved.”

ash tree [Fraxinus excelsior]— On 23 February 1802 Dorothy notices a thrust on the still bare branches of an ash tree: “When we came out of our own doors, that dear thrush was singing upon the topmost of the smooth branches of the ash tree at the top of the orchard. How long it had been perched on that same tree I cannot tell but we had heard its dear voice in the orchard the day through, along with a chearful undersong made by our winter friends the Robins.”

mosses [Phylum Bryophyta]— A couple of days later, on a misty, rainy day walk on 23 February 1802, Dorothy again collects mosses and leaves them at Dove Cottage before going for a walk in John’s Wood: “As we came home, I picked up a few mosses by the roadside, which I left at home” .

ivy [Hedera helix] —Dorothy returns from her evening walk on 25 February 1802: “I reached home just before dark, brought some mosses and ivy, and then got tea, and fell to work at German.”

Dorothy’s observations for March are still slim. It seems that the snowdrops are the only flowers that have begun to bloom, but gardening is on her mind.

snowdrops [Galanthus nivalis] — On 4 March 1802, Dorothy reports: “ I have set Molly on to clear the garden a little, & I myself have helped. I transplanted some snowdrops — The Bees are busy.”

apples [Pyrus malus] — Also on 4 March 1802, Dorothy is cleaning up after William has left. She finds his half-eaten apple and says: “O the Darling! Here is one of his bitten apples! I can hardly find in my heart to throw it into the fire.”

fir [Pinus sylvestria] — On 4 March 1802 Dorothy mourns the fact that they are cutting down Benson’s wood: “They are making sad ravages in woods—Benson’s wood is going and the wood above the River.” It appears that nature is doing some pruning also. She goes on to report that “The wind has blown down a small fir tree on the Rock, that terminates John's path. I suppose the wind of Wednesday night.”

mosses [Phylum Bryophyta]— The day after William left, on 5 March 1802, Dorothy “First walked in the Garden & Orchard — a frosty sunny morning. After dinner I gathered mosses in Easedale.”

green moss [Phylum Bryophyta]— On 19 March 1802, Dorothy, looking forward to William’s return, gathers moss to decorate Dove Cottage: “A very rainy morning. I went up into the lane to collect a few green mosses to make the chimney gay against my darling's return.”