No point in worrying about things you can't control. One of the Gardeners Question Team used to say "This plant is suffering from an insufficiency of neglect." Let that be your mantra. For any frost-sensitive plants, a bit of horticultural fleece solves most problems. Bubble wrap is useful in an emergency - but tie it on of you'll lose it.

I was doing well with my mowing yesterday until I got a flat - a thorn I expect. After a bit of a battle with a cotter pin I got the wheel off today. I'll get it sorted tomorrow.

Roger

White-tipped snowdrop shoots on three clumps along our woodland bank, too; and when I cleared away some old plant waste (and I'd forgotten how prickly the hairs on the pulmonaria are) I found a variety of shoots protruding, most of which were recallable from years past but, as happens every year, there are surprises where you just can't remember what you'd planted, or better still, you'd not planted. Great time of year!

Good luck with the puncture.

3 clumps of white-tipped snowdrop shoots, two primrose blooms and plenty of crocus shoots up in the lawn; this is much more timely than last year, thankfully, when the crocuses were up & daffs blooming in November. A healthy gardening year ahead, we hope- Happy New Year.

Happy New Year. 

Don't worry about early shoots Tony. Nature will do its own thing and all will be well. 

Just a reminder that it's not too late to plant garlic. It needs frost for it to produce well. 

Cheers Caz,
Happy new year.

Hazel catkins shedding pollen in our back garden - maybe a slight heat island effect as we are in the middle of the city

Winter-flowering clematis (urophylla) now in flower

Ah- thanks for that! That explains why my crops have been mediocre. You'd think by now I'd at least have looked that one up!

More and more crocuses showing through the lawn; mahonia flowers giving up a good scent. A bit of a wintry shock on its way, but luckily the gardens are still mostly in hibernation mode.

At least the grass has stopped growing this winter. A few spring flowering bulbs showing leaves and snowdrop foliage above ground now. 

Even a half hearted dawn chorus yesterday.

Nick

Can see snowdrops today....

Winter flowering honeysuckle (the bush type) in flower now

My Viburnum Bodnantense is in full flower. It's supposed to be fragrant but I haven't got the slightest whiff of it yet. I planted it to be seen from the lounge window and under our bedroom window with the hope of dozing off to lovely floral perfume. Well at least it looks really cheerful on such a dreary day. 

Like the Mahonia, Caz, that Viburnum is delightfully fragrant, but at fairly close range. Some of the summer flowers that smell so strong (like the mock orange blossom) rely on summer air patterns and humidity to really carry the scent. But the Viburnum will be best sniffed on sunny, mild days, like the gorse when it blooms in winter.

Yes indeed Bertie. It's a shame such fragrance is wasted by weather. 

The Mahonias around here are looking particularly good this year and add some nice splashes of yellow to these grey days.  

That's lovely to hear Caz. Mum (now gone) gave Bess & me a mahonia years ago and it buzzed with early insects in February. Then the shed we built kind of cornered it- although I could smell it strongly as we had a bench by the shed. The children came and we were concerned about its prickly leaves and yellow sap which looked decidedly dodgy- we always wanted our children to have free-rein in the garden; so we cut it to a stump. Sentimental it is, but it did the phoenix thing and now is as strong as at the beginning- and Dad, bless him, goes out and sniffs it on February afternoons. He thinks I haven't noticed but I've seen him.

That's a lovely story Bertie!  I don't have room for a Mahonia but I've planted a few in my early horticultural days and had the scratches to prove it.  

We're coming up to the season for Daffs and I'm looking forward to seeing the ones I dug out of my son's garden and planted in mine last year.  I still haven't put his house up for sale, so if any more come up in his garden this year, I'll be round there with my trowel again.  

Can't help you with that one Rog- I only discovered the spice last year and your post is my first know that there's a Sumac tree!

I often find a check the genus for a match helps- I now understand the edible spice comes from the Rhus variety but I couldn't tell you if that was the British variety.

On a less revelational note, our first crocuses are in flower, and 3 clumps of snowdrops are flowering too (just right for last week's Candlemas). These appear to have spread down the slope of our woodland bank, following some disturbance after Bess' winter weed-clear.

Rhus typhina   Staghorn Sumac.

Collect the heads -dehydrate for 48 hours- take off from stems- Process in blender not food processer- Put through a strainer.   Store in a Kilner type jar....

Thanks. ART - that's very helpful. Do you need to refrigerate or is the drying sufficient to preserve?

Roger

Process can be found at

Harvesting And Processing Staghorn Sumac For Spice    Wayward Spark.

You can also make a lemonade from it.

The thread is a little slow, understandably at this time of year, but there are some very interesting and knowledgeable posts (& posters) on here. The subject matter has matured since this time last year- maybe we're all getting in our gardens more? What a lovely thought.

Lawns starting to be speckled with many crocuses now. A wisened old gardener in the Sandbanks Hotel once told me 9th February seems to bring 'em on. Something to do with the light, he reckoned.