"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now"

Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride  

Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years & ten
Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

When the cherry blossom season is here I am reminded of A. E Housman's prophetic prose.  Written in 1896 it reflects on the fact that, aged 20, he has just 50 of his threescore years and ten remaining. 

Even though Housman wants to appreciate the cherry blossom while he's still around to do so there is a much deeper message here.

He is exploring the themes of life and death, along with the fast progression of time. The temporary nature of pleasure and beauty - reminding us that time is of the essence.

Great photographer John showed some very rare Oxlips on his blog which are found on the eastern side of the country. They grow in a narrow band stretching through Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. I too thought that I had spotted some growing here in the west just a five minute stroll from my home. 

I found this particular large lush clump, of what I thought were Oxlips, but could they be the false ones!  False Oxlips are a cross between a Primrose and a Cowslip. Having looked at John's again, sadly, I think that these are false, they look totally identical apart from the small orange flecks at the center of each flower. Mine resemble an orange star whilst his true Oxlips have an orange circle.