Green shoots

Blue pasque flower

Rose in leaf

Daffodills

I think of Dr Zhivago at this time of year. There is a memorable passage in the Manya Harari/Max Hayward translation:

The kingdom of plants can easily be thought of as the nearest neighbour of the kingdom of death. Perhaps the mysteries of transformation and the enigmas of life which so torment us are concentrated in the green of the earth, among the trees in graveyards and the flowering shoots springing from their beds.  Mary Magdalene, not at once recognising Jesus risen from the grave, took him for the gardener.

We - the new Institute of Translation in Moscow and Moffat Book Events -  are holding a conference in Moffat 20-22 September 2013. There is a very interesting article about the translation of Dr Zhivago here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/06/doctor-zhivago-boris-pasternak-translation