Instagram and The Fritillaria

Fritallaria uva-vulpis

On Fritillaria.


Until four or five years ago
I had never heard of Fritillaria -
A fall bulb that emerges in spring
Alongside Daffs and Grape Hyacinths.


The tiniest of flowers.
Small enough to evade me
in my life of horticulture
Running 30 years at least.


I suspect it a new floral or garden consciousness -
Formed not in the garden
But on Instagram -
From where it has found its way into me.


Instagram has changed the scale
From which we imagine the garden.
The zooming up closeness of a phone's camera
Is bringing us closer to the garden
Where before we viewed it an arms length
Or whatever scale and distance
A persons body would stand and view.


Fritillaria is not something you would see from the street. Its not something you would make stand out by planting in mass. It is singular and only viewed up close - a distance I rarely found myself until now.