Genêt à balais

At least, that's what I think this is. Scotch broom (cytisus scoparius). Every year there's more and more of it on the edges of the vineyard. These are the flower heads just getting ready to open. It's interesting to me to see the very young petals with their red color just before they open. Once the flower is open, all the red is gone and just the yellow remains.

Bloomin' broom.

I read that the plant is called "broom" because the stems are (or were) dried and used to make brooms.

Again, I took this picture on Wednesday under heavy gray morning skies. The 11th, 12th, and 13th of May are known as les saints de glace (the ice saints), referring to the last days of frost in the spring of the year. And this year, the saints lived up to their name; the first half of May has been cold and miserable. But on Friday, May 14, almost as if on cue, the morning dawned sunny and clear and the weather feels like it will improve.

Then comes this morning. Sunny, but a chilly 5.9ºC. Arrrgh!