Nearby: Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Early May is the time of the forsythia and daffodil, when the color yellow reigns over the New England landscape. At Tower Hill Botanic Garden in nearby Boylston, you can find both in abundance, though the woodland trees are still bare against the spring sky. It's an hour's drive west from Boston, and the daffodil field, containing 25,000 bulbs, is worth every minute of it. It was like a dream, even with clouds threatening rain. 

There is an apple orchard, numerous gardens, and two very romantic greenhouses, including an Orangerie and Lemon House, better known to those with green thumbs as a "Limonaia." From the highest point, one can see Wachusett Reservoir in the distance. This is a place of not only quiet, introspective walks like the one I had myself, but also of weddings and flower shows and concerts.  Even yoga. 

Then there are the woods. The trails are wonderfully maintained (no doubt due to the high entry fee), with an intriguing mix of classical elements, including various sculptures and shrines like the "Folly" or the "Temple of Peace." It was cold when I went, but I lingered in the "Inner Park" and beside the mossy steps, wishing I had brought along Edith Hamilton's Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Instead, I delightfully studied the little fairy houses along the pathways, constructed in honor of Sibylle Olfers Story of the Root Children -a very nice surprise.  Go to Tower Hill Botanic Garden to chase the whimsical, but also to embrace the color of the season. Go to seek the daffodil. 

Brattle Square Florist

Brattle Square Florist is precisely where it's name suggests: Brattle Square in Cambridge. From the outside, it's rather unassuming and I myself have walked past it on several occasions without a thought to venture inside. Last weekend, however, I spent the morning jaunting to and fro about Harvard Square and thus was extra close by.  

I was also desperate for tulips. Somehow their presence helps me believe spring is near. So I entered the narrow trove of flowers, delighted with the sweet scents filling the air and the dazzling selection of blossoming creatures. A step inside a place like Brattle Square Florist is like a good dose of medicine. It's ever so relieving to be surrounded by cheerful flowers and that's exactly how I felt in Brattle Square. So after lingering for a good fifteen minutes, I left with my bouquet of red and yellow tulips under my arm, feeling slightly more optimistic than when I arrived.