“Have you seen all of my snowdrops?” I ask the neighbour.

“YES! But I went through the park on my way to the library today and there are crocuses EVERYWHERE. It’s much too EARLY for them! So I had to really scold them all!!!”

She walks off grumbling to herself while I’m picturing her pushing her bike through the park and scolding every crocus in sight.

“Apparently I. was ranting and raving at the crocuses in the park earlier”, I tell the husband.

“I have absolutely no difficulty imagining that”, he says.

I go and check on my own crocuses. There is nothing at all to be seen. It’s possible that, being relatively new at this garden thing, I’ve planted them too deeply in our clay soil. Or the mice got to the bulbs. But possibly they’re just afraid, very afraid.