First Day Or Mid Way?

I heard someone on the radio this morning say that it was the first day of spring which rather surprised me as I had heard something similar at least a couple of weeks ago. Looking into it I discovered that the Met Office regard March 1st as being the first day of spring but the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere in 2010 is actually March 20th. This is regarded by many as being the official first day but logically, if the summer solstice is the mid point of summer, then it follows that the vernal equinox is the mid point of spring so perhaps the Met Office is closer than we first thought.

Whatever your school of thought it cannot be denied that the cold winter has held back many of the spring flowers. Whilst daffodils have been plentiful in the shops and on the market stalls, those growing naturally in our parks and gardens have yet to burst into flower EXCEPT I was able to photograph this mini variety growing in a sheltered spot in our garden this afternoon.


And once the mini daffodils flower the full sized version are not long after. Spring is here whatever the date - rejoice!