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It was a chilly day in May, spring just arriving. I was fascinated, having just been in Glasgow where everything was in full bloom, the sun had been warm and where reading on a bench in the botanic garden, only wearing t-shirt and jeans, was perfectly comfortable. Not here. Mittens and hat were needed in the Helsinki May weather, even though it isn’t that much further north than Scotland. I guess it’s the Golf stream versus the lingering Siberian winter air masses. Really nice, though, in the Kaisaniemi botanic garden with the blooming spring flowers, wood anemones, pasque flowers, scilla and tulips. Lily buds, just like the ones in my Finnish grandmother’s garden, promising a fiery summer. Strange and exotic plants are fascinating, yes, but there’s a special kind of magic in the flowers of childhood.
Photos: Lily buds and pasque flower in Kaisaniemen kasvitieteellinen puutarha in Helsinki, Finland, May 2017. Posted on Instagram November 19, 2020.
Katja Malmborg 