“May we call your attention to the bowers of bluebells carpeting Ireland’s woodlands for a brief spell between April and May?” asks Susan Zelouf
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There are 72 ko (rhymes with “slow”) or microseasons, in the Japanese year, subdividing the days/weeks/months by marking changes and events in the natural world. While the Japanese, like most of the rest of us, use the Gregorian calendar, they divvy up the broad swathe of what Westerners classify as the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) into evocative five-day patterns, giving each ko a haiku-like name: for example, April 5-9 is called Tsubame kitaru, “When swallows return.” Ireland’s slimmers totting up daily steps as they stride through neighbourhoods in April might look up from phones and Fitbits at the arrival of swallows, swooping and diving overhead, but do we recognise it for the miracle it is? Some may note the two solstices marking the shortest and longest days of the year, winter solstice prompting mournful sighs (“That’s Christmas almost done and dusted”), the other urging us on to plan summer flights abroad or staycations here at home.
The gardeners among us, diligent planners, set reminder alerts cuing when to sink bulbs in borders, an act of faith really, none of us knowing for sure if we’ll be around when they push through the warming earth to rise and bloom. Farmers appear to live by inner almanacs, an instinctual knowledge of the best time to cut grass to make silage, what crops to sow when, a schedule of trimming hedges, clearing drains and ditches and mending fences and walls. Ask an Irish farmer about the weather and they might remark on the grand stretch in the evenings before going about their business; ask a Japanese farmer the same question and they are likely to call your attention to the distant thunder (March 31-April 4) or nod towards the wedge of wild geese heading to the wild north (April 10-14), perhaps marvelling at the hajimete arawaru, the appearance of the season’s first rainbows (April 15-19).
“Enter the wood with care, my love, lest you are pulled down by the hue, lost in the depths, drowned in blue.” The Lost Words, Robert MacFarlane
May we call your attention to the bowers of bluebells carpeting Ireland’s woodlands for a brief spell between April and May? Like anything worth its salt, bluebell colonies, some ancient, take time to establish, five to seven years from seed to flower; crush a bluebell’s leaves underfoot and it can take years to recover. According to Irish folklore, there are even worse reasons to take care not to trample bluebells, thought to be full of spells, the bells believed to summon the fairies when rung. Still nicknamed “St Brigid’s Flowers” in some parts of Ireland, the bell-shaped, deep violet-blue six-petalled wild flowers clustered on each flowering stem (or inflorescence) curve to one side in a kind of nod, a droop one can abide. But it is the heady scent that draws us back to the woods today, sure of a big surprise. A “nose”, gifted or practised with highly developed olfactory skills, might describe the intoxicating fragrance of bluebells as green-floral, honeyed, musky, its olfactive profile reminiscent of hyacinth; reportedly, Princess Diana’s everyday perfume was Penhaligon’s Bluebell. In a 2015 interview with Suits actress Meghan Markle (before she met her prince), she cites her go-to scent as Jo Malone’s Wild Bluebell make of that what you will. But don’t be confused by the whiff of wild garlic thriving alongside bluebells in many a wood; both belong to the lily family, and clumps of both produce a haze of pungent flowers around the same time, an attar potent enough to make even the most miserable malcontent swoon. @susanzelouf
1. I’M COTTONING on to The Row’s high-low vibe in an Almora draped poplin tunic. www.net-a-porter.com
2. I’M NAVIGATING Kilkenny’s Henebry Cross Roundabout just to see Wild Metal’s giant bluebells.
3. I’M PUMPING up the volume with bluebell-inspired Vperi speakers from www.theacoustibox.com.
4. I’M SPRINGING forward in Nailberry L’Oxygéné Nail Lacquer in Bluebell. www.parfumdreams.ie.
5. I’M BLOOMING in a Dolce & Gabbana floral-print get-up. www.farfetch.com/ie.
6. I’M REWILDING in Jo Malone Wild Bluebell, at Brown Thomas.
7. I’M FLIRTING in a George structured mini dress by Bernadette. www.net-a-porter.com.
8. I’M PIERCING my ears again to wear Kintsugi earrings by @nigeloreillygoldsmith. Visit his showroom in Co Mayo.
9. I’M CONSULTING colourist Olha Kelly for advice on painting interiors. Will she love Designer Guild’s Bluebell? Plan your palette with @frauolhakelly.
10. I’M SHOPPING Glasgow’s Bluebellgray for dells of bluebells bedlinen. www.bluebellgray.com.
11. I’M WANDERING Ireland’s fairytale bluebell walks via hints from www.mykidstime.com. Not just for kids!
12. I’M INVOKING my prince doused in Penhaligon’s English Bluebell. Visit the Penhaligon’s outlet at Kildare Village.
13. I’M MAKING big eyes in MAC’s Small Shadow, at Arnotts.
14. I’M MIXING it up in a Dries Van Noten panelled floral-print coat – so wrong it’s right.