(i) In the story, winter stands for a negative, desolate and lifeless environment. In this environment, trees and flowers do not blossom. Here, winter also refers to an atmosphere of depression and laziness. Since birds did not sing, children did not play and spring did not visit the garden, winter prolonged its stay in the garden.
(ii) When spring came, the birds did not sing as there were no children. The trees too did not blossom. At a particular instance, a flower put its head out from the grass. However, when it saw the notice board put up by the giant, it felt sad and sorry for the children, got back inside the grass, and went off to sleep.
On the other hand, snow and frost were very happy. While the snow covered the grass, the frost fell on all the trees. They invited the North Wind to stay with them, and later even the Hail was asked to visit. The Hail rattled the roof of the castle everyday until some of it started breaking, and then it ran round the garden again and again as fast as it could.