Am I correct in thinking....?

[Marthaclematis]

.... that due to the cold winter, spring is about a month behind? My garden is certainly about five weeks behind last year. Is this normal or is it very odd? As this is only my second year of gardening and keeping a blog I wouldn't know. And how does it affect people who grow things to eat? Are all your crops behind too? Are you still waiting to harvest things you were eating this time last year? Does it happen often? I must say it has surprised me that the seasons can 'move' in this way.

[jacob marley]

Well old gal marley mowed the lawns at marley tower's yesterday so some thing is growing....jacob

[allotmentlady]

Hmmm I feel the same Martha, my garden is slow this year, having an exotic garden I usually watching the elephants foot starting to bud, the willow is soooooo behind, bamboos are producing new leaves, I had a peek at all of my tree ferns which are covered in fleece since last October and they are just starting to produce fronds but I am not going to incover them just yet.

I have harvested Kale and some leeks, although a lot rotted due to the wet weather.

Maybe we are a month behind but does that mean the season will last a month longer?

[Glutton4...]

Definitely behind here too this year - this winter has been more like the ones we usually had when I was a kid.
The trouble with an early start is we'll often gate a late frost and kill off all the buds and new growth. Hopefully we'll get the cold stuff over early.
As for a longer season - hope so!

[lynda66]

we usually get frost from feb till end may here, we rarely get it in october november or early december (like last year) normally, but normally i mow my lawn for the first time in april ..... but everything is sprouting up here, cos it's been warm for a few days, but i'm sure it will go cold again and upset everything ..... so my lawn needs mowing now, so i thought spring was early

[HotStuff]

I have Irises and Daffodils up in my garden, so good to see the Daffs on St. Davids Day, but I think they're gonna get caught out as the weather forecast shows we are in for more frosts later this week

[SlugLobber]

Nothing is behind in my garden, that I've noticed! I really needed to cut the lawn yesterday, but I had a banging headache, so had a bath instead. It didn't help that they put Bond on mid-afternoon, rendering me unable to leave the sofa!

My potatoes are going great guns! I earthed them up for the SECOND time, yesterday!

[StephenH]

Daffodils and narcissi are late. In previous years, some of the earliest ones have been opening by the end of February on a south-facing bank beside a road in Hemel, but there's no sign of them this year. OTOH, crocuses are out in my garden.

[where2start]

The weather here in the Falklands seems to mirror that of the UK, if you have a good summer we do, if you have snow etc we have lots more!

Anyway, our season started late. Traditionally it starts in September, but i didnt start planting until Nov/Dec (but that was because my garden wasnt ready) but still the plant mostly did OK.

Also our summer is hanging in there even though we have a bit of hail this morning, but that can happen anytime. The overall temp is good, but sadly the daylight hours are getting less and less....give it another couple of weeks and i will be totally miserable with the dark nights and mornings

So overall it wouldnt surprise me if the UK get a late summer, we did....

[pjh75]

I feel behind compared to last year when I already had tomato & chilli seedlings in the greenhouse by this time. I sowed them later this year because it has been so cold and nothing has poked through yet. I only have last year to compare to, but I suppose later in the year I will be able to tell if my harvesting dates are vastly different.