Narcissus ‘Rip Van Winkle’ Div. 4, pre-1884, hybridizer unknown

We usually hear that phrase when something we’ve enjoyed comes to an end, but it may be applied to an unpleasant interval as well as to a pleasant one. A month ago—when snow coated the ground, my hands were chapped and raw from the frigid air, and I couldn’t seem to get warm—it was hard to believe spring would ever come. Yet it did. I’m speaking both literally and in metaphor when I say that . . . and when I say this spring was worth the wait.