How Far Is Your Garden Behind This Year?.

In your areas (with the crazy weather we have been having), How far is your garden behind this year ?.

I was in the garden today from 2 pm till 7 pm.
The sun was shining but a chill wind was blowing,I was frozen.

I was spraying roses for black spot prevention.
I fed the Apple and Pear trees ,(which basically are still half asleep).
The Grass I think is Comatose.
I gave the grass it's first cut around early March,It has went in the Huff and has done very little growth since.
My Hydrangeas just don't want to know ,they have gone on strike,(hardly any new shoots).

The Clematis they are doing their best to be Sociable, showing a little green smile here and there,(God Bless Em).

I said Goodnight to all the unhappy looking sights and went up to a nice warm Bath.

I am now sitting with a Big Double Brandy and a Guinness, Nice And Warm,
Talking on GC..



Hopefully my Garden friends will be in better Moods next week, as it's costing me a Fortune on Brandy And Guinness..

 

My guess is for most things I'm 3 weeks behind last year.
But last year we had a very warm March, infact unusually warm, so it anybodies guess how far we are behind normal, as what is normal?

What I would say is, its amazing how well things catch up given a few good days and I'm guessing by mid June everything will be back on track, they usually are.

 

My garden so far is a non starter, weather still cold, we had hailstones here today!!! still keeping my seeds going on windowsills and in the greenhouse but they aren't making much of an effort, I am sitting here with a lager, also nice and warm, good grief I have put the gas fire on!!!!!

Val

 

About 5 weeks behind here, same story, bit of sun but negated by the cold winds.

I is just finishing the first bottle, thinkin about the second

 

My amelanchier is flowering now, I reckon in previous years it's been 2 or 3 weeks earlier. I usually miss it because it flowers at Easter and I'm away.

 

Not just the garden but i'm behind working on it as well ,two weeks away this time of year is not good plus a week recovering from the Marrakech Express visit.
Forsythia seemed to be later this year than I can remember, Hostas are barely showing but the daffs are lasting longer, swings and roundabouts?

 

I reckon it's a month behind here.

 

Same here al n,but in the last week it seems to be catching up fast

 

About 4-5 weeks here too.
My daffs still looking good, tulips starting to bud up, hostas starting to poke the noses through. Astilbe brought last year starting to show too.
Brunnera flowering nicely now as well.

 

The Forsythia was in full bloom a couple of days after I moved in on April 15th last year. This year it was in full bloom by the 19th. But the Daffs were over last year - in bloom now. And despite the harsh winter the Lobelia tupa that I introduced is about 8 to 10cm tall already.
Numerous Frits in bloom at the moment, which is a little late for some, right for others, Uvularia is late and the Fuchsias are only just recovering. So I reckon that some things are a few days behind, but other later bloomers may well be fairly unaffected if they've survived.

 

About a month or so behind here but amazing how quickly things are catching up in the past week of warmer weather and rain. Shame it's forecast frost for sat/sun

 

About the same here 3 to 4 weeks . The daffs in my lawn are on the way out now , but the container daffs are just about to flower. Tulips are very late as well . Clematis seem a little slow. The delphiniums I grew from seed last year 3 have sprouted so far!

 

About a month behind, but things are really starting to take off now.

Rusty

 

I'd say a month to a month and half behind, maybe more.

There are still no leaves forming on trees and no buds to indicate they are coming, the trees pretty much look like they do in January. This is definitely unprecedented, as by now trees usually have a full crown of lime green new fresh growth on, but this year is the first time in my life I've seen no growth whatsoever going into May.

The garden is also stalled. Though Daffodils have been and gone, everything else is in stasis, and it doesn't appear it's going to change here any time soon.

I've already planted some seeds which, to my surprise have germinated even in this very cold weather! Other than that though gardening will be on hold now until late May or June, when I presume some type of near average warmth may occur.

 

I'm just wondering whether we are really behind or were we too far ahead in the previous few years?

On the one hand, compared to the past 5 years, for example, we might be 2-3 weeks behind; on the other hand, looking longer term, I always associate tulips with May, this year they look just right: their buds are just starting to open and full blossom will be right on time.

All in all I believe everything so far has developed just about normally, neither earlier nor later. I sincerely hope that the weather through summer into autumn is normal as well, so the plants won't sit there miserably like last year.