The Month of the Mimosa

If you had asked me a few years ago in what month the mimosa is at its best, I would have said without a doubt, March. Albeit that the nearby small town of Roquebrun in the Orb valley always holds its Mimosa Festival in February, when floats parade through the town bedecked with lemony yellow blossoms, elsewhere mimosa normally appears a little later. After all Roquebrun has a special microclimate, where in winter citrus trees bear fruit in people's gardens. But suddenly I must change my tune. For it is February, yet all around me the mimosa is in fulsome blossom. As I travel around I see it everywhere, on hillsides, in gardens, and even by the edge of a busy railway line. Just as the maximum colour has drained from the earth , and the landscape is looking sad, it would seem as if an artist has come along with a big fat paintbrush to daub splodges of yellow paint everywhere he goes. This is the best harbinger of spring that I know. It lights up our world like so many yellow beacons. Bring armfuls of the feathery lemon coloured blossoms into your house, and the air will be filled with its delicate perfume. Spring has arrived.