Spring

The beginning of spring it all starts with the colour of the sky. Nova Scotia is the same latitude as Southern Spain and Provence in France. At 45 degrees north, it is a full 10 latitudinal degrees further south than England, so the days here are shorter in summer and longer in winter. The clear evening sky is the apricot colour of an English tart, a mellow orange. It’s a natural combination with the breathtakingly clear not quite midnight blue of the water, and the pristine trees whose lime leaves announce the beginning of spring. Grey slabs of stone lounge in the long grass like smooth skinned crocodiles.

When I tell friends in Europe I am going to Nova Scotia, a look of pity crosses their face as they imagine it to be socked in with snow with miles of arctic ice and a cold, sunless sky for company. The bleak, treeless landscape is deemed suitable only for Eskimos and polar bears and those pioneers who like the idea of being in the middle of nowhere. But Nova Scotia is not like that. It does get the snowstorms and the hurricanes but it is surrounded by ocean water which means that the province has a maritime climate, and you can find in the garden all sorts of trees, herbaceous perennials and annuals in spring, summer and fall that you find in England. Though it takes longer to get to spring, by the time May has arrived the lilacs are out, as are the peonies, buddleia, spiriea and fruit trees. The first of the trees to flower in spring is the Amelanchier Canadensis, a small native tree with small pale flowers on black stems that you can also find in English gardens.

In high summer hydrangeas, phlox, sweet William, hollyhocks and honey suckle are joined by roses and cleome.  Heliotrope and orchids grow wild too, though they are particular about their location and will only grow where they want to. Lupins however, are not the least bit fussy, and will line the roadsides, ditches and fields everywhere you look in all shades of pink, lavender, blue and white.

In the autumn asters, daylilies and Michaelmas daisies in lilac and white grow wild and wild raspberries; blueberries and cranberries are ripe for picking. Holly berries, bay berries and rose hips shine red in the grey fog near the bay’s edge.