Here in southern England, we’re not really having winter, just a rainy season. In the relatively mild temperatures, several plants in the garden are waking up early.
This elder is coming into leaf (in mid-January!):
Are plants like children? If they don’t get enough sleep, will they be crabby and crotchety all the rest of the year? How will that affect the rest of us?
Here are some pictures of snowdrops, crocus, jasmine and miscellaneous pretty purple flower. The jasmine should be in flower now, but I think the others are early.
It is lovely to have something in bloom in the depths of January, regardless of whether or not it should be.
Alex Mabbs 
After a very cold period — followed by some warmer, rainy days — we are now savoring some sunny, just-above-freezing days in the Boston area. But I haven’t yet seen any hints of burgeoning green, much less flowers! The larger weather patterns remain, somewhat blessedly, a mystery. And we human beings seem to be committed right now as a species to burning lots and lots of fossil fuels. Ah, change…