Peeping early from its bower

Thy smiles I note, sweet early Flower,
That peeping from thy rustic bower
The festive news to earth dost bring,
A fragrant messenger of Spring.
--Coleridge, "To a Primrose"

"Sweet early flower," indeed. The primrose each year is one of the earliest of blooms. Its English name itself means "first rose." (Its Latin name, less poetically, is Primula vulgaris.)

A few primroses dwell in my front yard, resident there since time immemorial. They make their usual appearance in early to mid February, providing me the first reassurance that winter lasts not forever -- that the sun already hasteneth his way northwards. That Spring is on her way.

Today is only January 9, and yet my young primroses already are in bloom. Three flowers fully open: deep purple with yellow centers. Three more peeping forth as purple buds, flowers inchoate. Mine are Primula vulgaris sibthorpii (native to the Balkans and southwest Asia), distinguished by their purple color from the yellow and, well, more vulgar Primula vulgaris vulgaris (native to western and southern Europe). Like Iowa and New Hampshire Republicans, in 2012 my primroses seem to have tripped all over themselves, in their impatient eagerness to rush the season.

Why so early? Mildness of weather? We haven't had many sub-freezing temperatures this year, but the weather's been otherwise -- as usual -- cold and wet. Have my primroses been prematurely aroused by the strength of the political winds? Or are my plants eager to stage one final show for my benefit, saddened with foreknowledge that this coming December brings to an end the Mayan world cycle?

Who knows what's in their pretty little heads? But their arrival is welcome. And if their arrival should augur an early end to winter, I'm all for it. I'm all for it, even should their appearance -- like melting glaciers and overheated polar bears -- be but additional evidence of global warming, that bête noir of my political adversaries.

The primrose was Prime Minister Disraeli's favorite flower. It is the county flower of Devon. It is edible. Its leaves can be used to make tea, and its flowers to make primrose wine. It's a loveable flower, and I do love it. I greet with warmth its early appearance.

Welcome again for yet another year, O Primula vulgaris . Bring us peace in our time, an early spring, and a Happy New Year.