Spring/Summer flowers in Winter

[pottyprof]

Well, after seeing a few news items about early flowering Daffodils etc. I thought it might be interesting to see which parts of the country and which plants are ahead.

I currently have Crocus bulbs coming into bud, Daffodils that are already about six inches high with buds forming, Bluebells and Grape Hyacinth pushing up and more amazing, Dutch Iris that are growing very well.

So i think we are about 6 weeks in front of average apart from the Dutch Iris..... I make that about 5-6 months..

[The PIT]

Well, after seeing a few news items about early flowering Daffodils etc. I thought it might be interesting to see which parts of the country and which plants are ahead.

I currently have Crocus bulbs coming into bud, Daffodils that are already about six inches high with buds forming, Bluebells and Grape Hyacinth pushing up and more amazing, Dutch Iris that are growing very well.

So i think we are about 6 weeks in front of average apart from the Dutch Iris..... I make that about 5-6 months..

Haven't really looked to be honest. Had a quick peak while I was on the Tissington trail and didn't spot any budding. I'll have to have a look around.

[blitzen]

I planted double headed snowdrops in November this year and was advised that it should have been done in early Autumn. They are now about 4ins high! I cut back my chrysanthemums middle of November and they have all started to leaf and flower again. Really weird for this area! The bracts on my rhodedendrons are very well developed and i'm concerned that if we get any serious cold they will probably suffer quite badly.

Blitzen.

[Somerset Squall]

I've seen daffs out in flower. Though this was in a garden centre car park so they could have been forced. Tulips are poking up, which is a little early if I'm correct.

[cheeky_monkey]

all the cherry blossom is out in exeter right now!!

[Northernlights]

Haven't really looked to be honest. Had a quick peak while I was on the Tissington trail and didn't spot any budding. I'll have to have a look around.

Just been out for some shopping and noticed the yellow flowers of Broom and Whin bushes in the headlights ,daffodils on their way also here. In the past after a long spell of rain and cool winds it oftend turned suddenly dryer and colder and the ground froze very hard because it was so waterlogged between Xmas and New Year putting a stop to all ploughing on the farm , maybe the models are onto something. New Year has always had better chance of frost and snow here than Xmas so the bulbs will go into suspended animation if it happens.

[Jane Louise]

My Dad says he still has spring flowers in his garden.I guess it's all to do with the mild weather. :unsure: we have some tiny pink flowers here,not sure what they are called though.

[Mark Bayley]

Have you still got your summer plants flowering. These are our geraniums. They should have stopped flowering in The middle of October. Sorry about the picture Quality

[Turnedoutniceagain]

Not sure if I've given my lawn its last cut or its 1st cut

[SNOW-MAN2006]

yes mark. The only thing i fear is that next year will be a very poor season for a;ll wild life. Ive seen spiders still making webs, flowers blooming! When winter arrives inJanuary i think many plants and wildlife will suffer severly!

SM06

[Mark Bayley]

yes mark. The only thing i fear is that next year will be a very poor season for a;ll wild life. Ive seen spiders still making webs, flowers blooming! When winter arrives inJanuary i think many plants and wildlife will suffer severly!

SM06

Yes i agrea with you. This mild weather has especially effected the hedgehogs and also other wildlife.

Edited December 15, 2006 by mark bayley

[Andy Bown]

Honeysuckle budding in a garden 100m down the road! That's the only house I've delivered to this week where they have honeysuckle, however I'd guess that other people have the same happening.

[Somerset Squall]

We have honeysuckles still flowering here.

[jethro]

We have honeysuckles still flowering here.

Some Honeysuckles are winter flowering. I work outside all year round, I'm a gardener and to be honest, despite living in the mild South West I can see nothing particularly unusual/unseasonal around here. If plants are sprouting early in your neck of the woods then the worst possible thing that can happen when the temps eventually go down is the odd soft tip will get burnt by frost - they'll recover. Any bulbs which appear to be making earlier than usual growth will just go into suspended animation for a while until Spring arrives; manipulating temperature by the use of hot houses/fridges is how gardeners at flower shows such as Chelsea manage to get plants such as Lupins, Daffodils, Blubells etc all in flower at the same time. Plants are tough, resiliant things.

Wild life is opportunistic, if situations are favourable then animals will continue to breed, sometimes producing one brood a year, other times two or three, dependant upon amongst other things, if food is available. Sadly Mother Nature is also a harsh beast, when the weather turns cold and kills off all the insect foodstuff then animals like hedgehogs further up the chain will die also. That, unfortunately is just the way it is, always has been and always will be. Late or extra broods/litters are always a gamble and like any gamble, the odds are stacked against.

[Somerset Squall]

Indeed Jethro, the same happened with the daffs here last year, appeared in late November, then stopped growing and ended up flowering late (due to the very cold February). Nothing really unusual here as you say, although I have tulips poking up. Would I be right in saying this is a little early?

Edited December 15, 2006 by Somerset Squall

[dale leigh]

Hi i live in Hyde Manchester very close to the pennines we still have summer flowers in our garde. on our north facing wall we have a clamatis still in full flower this should of finished in late july. also, we have marigolds and lobelia and also busy lizzys quite amazing has they should have all been gon by october Dale Leigh GTR MANCHESTER HYDE

[pottyprof]

Welcome to Net Weather Dale.

My clematis has just started to drop a few leaves and finished flowering at the end of November. Weird!!

[dale leigh]

Welcome to Net Weather Dale.

My clematis has just started to drop a few leaves and finished flowering at the end of November. Weird!!

hi its realy strange how it seams to be a nation wide thing summer flowers still going and the grass still growing i wonder if we will have a late spring and we get the oposite effect. or may be the seasons are becoming one.

[SP1986]

Forget spring flowers here, there aint any, no daffs, no crocus, instead there are roses, carnations, and flowers in hanging baskets and other summer flowers, but having said that we are in a really quite strong microclimate here so I would expect the flowers to be more prevalent for longer. Ill get a picture tomorrow, if the cooler air hasnt had an absolute impact

[Shiny_Bottom_1]

Heres one for Mushy.

Out back, we have a Convolvulus (Snow Angel) which looks like it has a couple of flowers (closed) on. Typical flowering is spring/summer (I only know this as we still have the label ).

Strange, as this is the only thing which actually appears to be out of sync?

[dale leigh]

Forget spring flowers here, there aint any, no daffs, no crocus, instead there are roses, carnations, and flowers in hanging baskets and other summer flowers, but having said that we are in a really quite strong microclimate here so I would expect the flowers to be more prevalent for longer. Ill get a picture tomorrow, if the cooler air hasnt had an absolute impact

May be you don't have a garden and may be you live on top of a mountain . there are still summer flowers going and really dont think we are in a micro climate its just that the weather has been so mild you only have to look at the pictures uploaded on net weather to see this.

[SP1986]

May be you don't have a garden and may be you live on top of a mountain . there are still summer flowers going and really dont think we are in a micro climate its just that the weather has been so mild you only have to look at the pictures uploaded on net weather to see this.

we do live in a microclimate here, but I agree that it has been mild, and these are some of the welding factors why there are so many flowers.

Here are a few flowers here, there are even growing apples in one of the pictures as well as hawthorn berries, fuschia, carnations, a few roses well it wont let me upload a file but ill try and get these pictures up somehow

[cheeky_monkey]

just a note the daffs in my garden started to come through on the 29th december..which is the earliest i have seen by a good week to 10days...before.

[kar999]

My honeysuckle hasn't stopped flowering since last summer.

[Angel15]

My honeysuckle hasn't stopped flowering since last summer.

Mine stopped flowering, but now it is sprouting new shoots!!! Most things in the garden are still flowering to be honest and my grass will need a cut soon! Very strange - on Monday I sat out in the conservatory with shorts and a t-shirt on sunning myself!