80/365: "And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest." ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Yesterday I was walking down to the gate to get the mail when I saw a flash of blue in the woods to my right. "Could it be?!" I thought to myself as I turned to see...and then let out a whoop of joy! The Greater Houndstongue is blooming!!! I couldn't wait to take pictures today, and I actually went out twice to take pictures because I wanted my representation of this flower to be as nice as I could manage! I adore these flowers with their blue-purple faces and inner circle of cream-colored hearts!

Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. A radical in his poetry and his political and social views, fame eluded him during his lifetime, but recognition grew steadily following his death. Shelley was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron; Leigh Hunt; Thomas Love Peacock; and his own second wife, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Wikipedia: Percy Bysshe Shelley