First Daffodils Bloomed In London's Kew Gardens On 1/16/08 - 1 Week Earlier Than 2007 Record

[hatrack]

Gardening enthusiasts could be forgiven for forgetting what month it is when they step outside in the morning, as carpets of snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils – all traditional spring flowers – are in bloom across the country.

It has been a record-breaking spell for flowers, with many spring varieties opening their petals a full two weeks before the average time for the decade. The unseasonably warm and wet winter so far in Britain has coaxed plants into early flowering.

At Kew Gardens, where they have been measuring plant blooming times since the 1950s, horticulturalists have been staggered by how early some varieties have arrived this month. The first daffodils opened at Kew on 16 January, a week earlier than 2007, and 11 days earlier than the average for this decade for that type of the flower. Crocuses also set a record at the gardens, flowering on 24 January, 11 days ahead of the decade average.

Sandra Bell, a horticulturalist at Kew who specialises in the effects of climate change on plants, said she was "really astonished" by how early the spring bulbs had flowered. "There's something odd going on this year. Even ash trees which normally flower in April are out. It's very peculiar."

EDIT

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/britain-in-bloom-as-spring-is-sprung-earlier-than-ever-776174.html

[DCKit]

1. I could almost swear I saw the exact same post 51 weeks ago.

Only the dates were slightly different.

"Listen carefully, global warming is a myth. There is no such thing as global warming. Now go shopping."

[LiberalEsto]

2. My spring tree allergies

keep starting earlier and earlier each year. Five years ago they usually started around February 1, but every year they get earlier.

This year I started wheezing and sneezing on January 14.