The first bud of spring in our garden. Our neighbours' ornamental ume have been in blossom for a month already. But ours is a hard-working fruit tree — and fingers crossed, those flower buds will throw forth plenty of jade-green sour-sour fruit!
Because it usually flowers in the dead of winter, the ume tree was honoured traditionally as one of the "companions of the deep cold" — the other two being pine and bamboo. They were thought to embody the Confucian virtues of steadfastness, resilience and perseverance, for their fortitude in the face of bitter weather.
Well, our tree doesn't qualify. But we're happy to call it a "companion of the first light days of spring".
