December 07

We hear much about global warming and unseasonal weather, but it seems to me that this has been going on for some time. April showers have been a month late for about the last 15 years. Plants have been flowering out of season for about the same time, but this has become even more out of sync recently. During the last year the magnolias flowered early, flowered again during the summer and even flowered during autumn. Primroses were in flower over this Christmas and the glastonbury thorn has flowered more or less continually, even if the main flushes were January and May. It had several flowers, a bit mangey admitedly, on christmas day itself. Normally the flowers start in January. The roses have been in flower until early Decmebr until when the frosts began. The leaves didnt fall from the trees until the end of November/early December. Yet in spite of this the plants are healthy and the magnolias next to the church have no fewer flower buds than usual. The spring display will be no worse than usual. Cerinthe major hs been in flower since Ocotber. Viburnum tinus seems to flower continually. Flower buds devop non-stop. Viburnum bonantense 'Dawn' began flowering in september and is still going strong. Eranthis hyemalis were flowering before Christmas in the grounds of Peterborough cathedral. And in some of the other cathedral gardens Kerria japonica has flowered from spring through to autumn. It has certainly been a crazy year for plants.
When do we prune plants now? If you try to follow the pruning instructions in books and wait until the dormant season, when do you start? The leaves are still on the roses and it is December 30th. These are old fashioned roses too! Some modern roses are still holding flowers.
Carefully planned planting schemes go to plot as plants that you have selected to flower at the same time to compliment each other clash with those that should have finished flowering but are not in flower with each other either. In large gardens with big blocks of plants this may not be quite so imprtant, but in small gardens it can be a major disaster. well it will be if you have spent a long time selecting plants for flower colour and flowering period. Less fussy gardenrs may not even notice the colour clashes/ failed combinations and other planning disasters; all due to the unusual weather.

To add to the problems, weeds have not stopped growing. The soil has been too broad beans in Novemberand garlic in December.
It is all very well digging in September, but there are no frosts to kill the pests or break down the soil over winter.
maybe this is a problem that is restricted to the north end of Northamptonshire, but I suspect not.
What do other gardeners notice about shifting seasons and other weather related matters? How do you handle pruning? Personally I just bite the bullet and let the flowering period and what is happening elsewhere in the garden guide me.
The gardening books tend to be based on what is happening in the south of England to advise on when to do things. The guidance was writtenin the Victorian and Edwardian periods and is repeated ad infinitum with scant regard to what isd happening now, often a hundred years later when many pruning systems were originally developed. Forget the books. Carry out work when it suits your garden. Observe the weather conditions. Notice when your plants flower and prune accordingly. Good gardeners are observant, flexible and tuned in to what is occuring on their patch. Happy gardening in 2008.