Spring is Here and I'm Here for Spring
“Even after the longest winters, spring will come.”
#amyshereforthis
My all-time favorite novel is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’ve read it countless times and never tire of it. Near the end of the book, when summer is wrapping up and things have really disintegrated for most of the characters (if you haven’t read it, just know that Gatsby is not one of those books with an upbeat ending), there is a quote in conversation that I think about quite often. Jordan Baker is talking to the narrator, Nick Carraway and she says “Life starts all over when it gets crisp in the fall.”
The book is set in New York, but my midwestern heart has always found solidarity with Jordan there. The changing of seasons really does make us feel like life is starting all over, doesn’t it? I’ve lived in Missouri my entire life and I find a comfort in that rhythm. Every few months, something will change, even if it just means that I grab a light jacket instead of my winter coat before heading out the door.
Jordan was talking about fall in the book, but in my opinion, no season shift gives me this feeling more than the coming of spring. After months of cold winter and grey landscape, the ground softens and green springs forth. The first sign of crocuses in the park or daffodils bursting from the dirt in our flower beds gives me hope. It reminds me that new things are coming, that even after the longest winters spring will come.
Right now our city is gloriously in bloom. Every walk or drive is filled with colors we haven’t seen in a while. Pink magnolias, white cherry blossoms, bright yellow daffodils, and arrays of tulips. Today, I’d love to share with you a few of my favorite places to catch those blooms in action!
“The first sign of crocuses in the park or daffodils bursting from the dirt in our flower beds gives me hope.”
#amyshereforthis
Maybe you’re tired of hearing me talk about Tower Grove Park, but I’m there nearly every day and it is gorgeous right now. Magnolias and cherry blossoms can be found all around the park. My favorite patches of daffodils can be found in the grass just inside the Kingshighway entrance and between the road and walking path just northeast of there. The tulips haven’t bloomed in TGP quite yet, but when they do, you can find them at the main entrance, the corner of Kingshighway and Magnolia, and near the Lily Pond.
We were all deprived of spring beauty at the Missouri Botanical Garden because of closures due to COVID last year, so don’t miss your chance to see the flowers this time around! I’ve been following along on Instagram and their website to find out peak times for blooms and I hope to make it over to the garden very soon before all the cherry blossoms are gone!
Another favorite spot to enjoy tulips is at the Jewel Box in Forest Park. Each year, there are so many in bloom there (I’m bad at estimating, so let’s say that there are definitely at least hundreds). I always try to plan a run through that part of Forest Park in April each year so that I make sure to see their beauty.
“Right now our city is gloriously in bloom.”
#amyshereforthis
Those three places, along with just walks around the neighborhood and pretty much any city park, are my favorite places to enjoy the beauty of spring. The next couple of weeks are going to be gorgeous, so get out there and enjoy the new life of spring!
What are your favorite places to see spring blooms? Any major ones that I’m forgetting? Let me know!
Happy spring!