It's a day when flowers are in the news - there are too many of them.
The big story was set in train when Dr Tim Rich of the National Museum of Wales (and the Welsh Rare Plants Project) and Dr Sarah Whild of Birmingham University went out to count them in the streets of Cardiff. They found 63 varieties instead of the anticipated 10 to 20 - or 20 to 30, depending on who tells it.
There seems to be similar confusion over whether these are flowers in general or just wild ones, nevertheless . .
The Royal Horticultural Society is getting excited too - if that's the right word. Maybe 'disturbed' or 'agitated' would be better for it's sent this photo of snowdrops at Rosemoor in Devon. They are lovely to see - but we shouldn't be seeing them yet.
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| Snowdrops flowering three weeks early
in the RHS gardens at Rosemoor in Devon.
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If plants flower before pollinators emerge, seed cannot be set. One doesn't want to be over-dramatic but, long term, if this happens to plants we value for food, and it happens over and over again, it could mean there will be less to eat - and fewer seeds for next years flowers . . . so fewer flowers . . . less food . . . serious stuff.
We're not going to eat snowdrops, nor yet the wallflower in my garden which thinks it's a bush and currently has thirteen beautiful flowers . . .
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| This is what my wallflower looked like on 21st December 2011 and it is flowering happily still on January 11th 2012. |
but, while appreciating the unexpected loveliness of a blooming January - you can see the problem . . .
1 comments:
It's been exceptionally mild in the Chicago area too Esther. We've had only a few typically-cold winter days so far, and just had the first sizable snowfall yesterday. No blooms here, but still much warmer than usual, and concerning.
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