Jan 2012 .... the Silly Season

Snowdrops are in full bloom
Tulips are up
Daffodils are up
Day lilies poking through
Virburnum in bud
Flowering cherry in bud
Verbena, osteospermum, centranthus, matricaria, geraniums, penstemons all still flowering here and there
Outdoor Fuchsias still have last year's foliage and now sprouting fresh leaves
Malva seems to think it is April time
Arbutus unedo seems to be very confused
Garlic going great guns (hope it's not all top growth)
....

Gardening, a funny old game innit!!

 

It is, even my Olive tree is putting out new leaves.

 

just hope we dont get heavy frosts or snow .... that will wipe out many trees/shrubs such as japanese maples etc

 

Everything except daffodils are still as dead as a dodo here. Last year my snowdrops came up after my daffodils.

 

A fair bit in flower, including Fuchsias, Geraniums, Gazanias and Snapdragons.

The frosty period will come and wipe this all out, it must do, it's abnormal that it's this frost free. A late frost could be very damaging though with everything still growing.

 

I've still got Castor oil plants alive and well

Just noticed a Lavendar in next door's front garden cover in advanced flower buds, should be open soon!!!

I had a look at the long range forecast (15 day) on Accu weather and they are forecasting a good week of hard frost for our area around mid-month, down to -8, I'll wait and see, but we have been lucky so far...:D

 

My white Sollya and the Polygala myrtifolia continue to bloom well, and they're tender!
And I found my Viola odorata in flower today!

 

There's lavender in bloom in my village, a couple of doors away from where there's a sunflower in bloom.

 

Earth’s climate unraveling? Winter disappears across portions of the northern hemisphere | The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

snip:

Enjoy the winter chill before scorcher summer sets in. The year 2012 may turn out to be among the top ten warmest years globally, and in the country, since 1850 – over 160 years. The year is also expected to be warmer than the previous year, which was the ninth warmest year for India since 1901. Weather scientists have predicted that 2012 is expected to be around 0.48 degree Celsius warmer than the average temperature or the long term global average

 

Bilbo minus 8 ! I use the Meteogroup , which is a European based forecast service . It has always been very accurate ( not perfect ! ) for me. Just compare the Accu forecast against this for a while. Meteo shows Derby as sub tropical next week :D

City weather: The weather for Derby, United Kingdom.

 

Hi Harry, I don't particularly follow Accu Weather just thought I'd have a look, I have noticed they constantly change their long range forecasts from one day to the next..??

Just had another look and as I suspected they've changed, now forecasting just 2 frosts to -4 for the 16th and 17th!!!......like I said earlier I'll wait and see :D I will have a look at Meteogroup though, thanks Harry :thumb:

 

Its not just the plants that are confused!I am waiting for some plants to go dormant so I can move/prune them,guess what they are still in flower.Going to be a very busy season and so tempting to start seeds of to early then loose the lot or everything goes well and we are eating toms and cues in March!!!

 

As a whole the country's plant life is utterly confused, everything's been lulled into a false sense of security and unless the entire winter keeps the Atlantic influence they'll come a cropper in the next couple of months.

Long range suggestions are for a predominantly Atlantic influence but with northerly interludes - the worst kind of weather really, better to be all one thing or another not swinging from one to another because that'll knock everything back, the stems/shoots will be withered right back :(

Just think, we'd have nothing to talk about if we didn't have this silly weather :WINK1:

 

Never had sweet williams blooming in January before. I'd better pick a bunch for indoors before the next forecast frost:

 

I have an Impatiens omeiana growing back, this isn't good news, it is herbaceous and requires at least 3 months dormacy, but it only has had a month, not just that of course but the new shoots will get obliterated by frost in Mid-late January.