Posy Gang considers the seasons

It's squalling outside today, and while my thoughts are as scattered as the snowflakes are, they’re also as calm as the thickening blanket of white. I'm feeling reflective. It’s amazing to think how much my relationship to the seasons has changed over the last twelve months - and it's all tied to this transformation I’ve undertaken, into professional flower maven, small business owner. It's a welcome shift.

For much of my adult life I regarded autumn as my saddest season. Fiery maple trees and vats of pumpkin spice lattes couldn't convince me to enjoy what I perceived only as the steady loss of light, the withering of exuberant life. Frigid winter, when it arrived, brought me some relief, like ice on a bruise. Yet by March, the unremitting cold and insipid, grey slush were just spiteful gatekeepers, holding me back from the delights of spring.

Still I always kept faith that the season of rebirth would come! And when it finally did, I was over the moon! Drunk on the scent of mud, the sight of swelling leaf buds, of so much life pushing itself up through the detritus of last year. Lost sleep be damned, I looked forward to the return of daylight saving's time. I LOVE SPRING.

Summer, well summer was okay, being the season of my birthday, a time of abundance... and oppressive heat, and mosquito bites, and powdery mildew on my plants, and...

I think spring will always be my favourite season.

It's definitely been a re-education, through preparing for Posy Gang’s first year, to look at the seasons differently – and I've come out of it with a less lopsided view of them. It’s a long-term goal of mine after all: to be less extreme and more even-keeled, the better to weather any turbulence that life throws my way.

Well, for better or worse, spring 2017 will be GO TIME. For me, for Posy Gang. So as much as I will always look forward to spring, I have to say: this year I’m a little apprehensive! No matter how well I’ve planned the flower-growing side of my business – the seeding, planting, harvesting, selling – I will still be at the mercy of trial and error, weather and pests. Ah well, I'm up for the adventure!

As for autumn, now that I've opened my eyes a bit wider and tried on a different set of frames, it’s begun to look strangely just like another version of spring: a time to plant and prepare for the following year. Pumpkin spice still doesn't do it for me (sorry), but yes, fall definitely has its charms. And snow, by the way, is now also a welcome thing, even if I don’t always want to be outside in it. There's no better blanket for the dormant, underground plant world!

So I’m not unhappy it’s snowing today... Just make sure you drive safely now!

​Tell me, what's your favourite season?