Xmas has been and gone . New Year is just 48 hrs away . However, winter seems nowhere to be seen in the UK at the moment.
At a time when we would usually expect to see bare branches and icy mornings, some flowers have burst into life two or more months ahead of schedule.
Ed Ikin, head gardener at National Trust estate Nymans in West Sussex, said: ‘It’s all a bit peculiar. As a gardener, it’s been a very strange winter – in fact, you can’t call it a winter yet.‘We haven’t had consecutive frosts, so apples and blackberries have not yet fallen off the branches as they don’t know winter’s come. ‘Instead, every flower that fancies its chances is flowering like mad. My only worry is we will soon see frosts which may kill some of the flowers off. We are seeing many flowers at least two months early.’
Temperatures for the second half of December have been at least three degrees above average.
Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said: ‘It’s been an exceptionally mild end to the year. A mild spell kicked in after December 21. Temperatures will stay like that for the next couple of days
December 30th, 2011 at 5:00 am
Hello Debbie. We are having peculiar weather here in West Michigan USA for this time of year also. It is December 29 and was 41F degrees today. I watched a farmer turning his field with his tractor today and couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing! I must admit I was a bit jealous for a moment.
Although I long for Spring and the promise of flowers it brings, I am somewhat worried about our gardens, too. Of course our plants need their dormant period to grow stronger each year and I fear they won’t get enough sleep this winter.
Happy New Year!
December 30th, 2011 at 10:01 am
Hi Debra
Good to hear whats happening with the weather in America – you might be interested in my latest blog post about how this weird weather is confusing plants all over the USA.Loving your blog and keen to keep in touch as have plans to connect with many more American gardeners in 2012 .
Best wishes
Deborah Scott Anderson