lesser celandine - spring's here

[KeenTeen17]

I found a lesser celandine in flower in a ditch near me on dec eleventh , it was a bit ragged because of the frost though

[hobble]

Merry Christmas to you too.......
I have a Foxglove in flower at the moment!!!!!!!!!!!..........
Snowdrops have pushed up through the soil.

[Geoff F]

It has been a strange winter so far here, in the deep south. I have had primroses in bloom for a month. Two weeks ago I saw catkins and a feral michaelmas daisy in full flower in a field beside the estuary.

My winter flowering iris (iris unguicularis) which usually gives it's first few flowers in early January has been in full bloom for several weeks. The Iris reticulatas plants are producing leaves so i expect they will be flowering early as well.

[leifus]

winter aconite leaves are just starting to come up

watch out KT

[davidbr]

I was very surprised to find a Winter Heliotrope in full flower a week or so back, and then on December 10th Lenten-rose (Helleborus orientalis), Green Hellebore (H. viridis) and Pink Campion (Silene x hampeana) were all flowering at Slimbridge (the WWT reserve in Gloucestershire), although like KeenTeen's lesser celandine, they were a bit tatty as a result of the frosts.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, was a single bloom on a Sweet Violet - at least six weeks earlier than I've ever seen one before! Maybe we are on course for an early Spring, but if we are I can't understand why - if anything, I'd have said it's been colder than usual so far this winter?

[Susie]

Dog violets have been flowering here for a good six weeks, red campion is still in flower too. Michaelmas daisies, lantana, penstemons, rudbekia and blanket flower still flowering too. My buddleia "silvery anniversary" has flowered non-stop since I got it in the summer and shows no sign of letting up despite severe frosts this past week.

Primroses, virburnum and cyclamen are flowering profusely and the spring flowering plants are gearing up too. The first bud on the sallow came through this week.

[leifus]

Originally Posted by davidbr

I was very surprised to find a Winter Heliotrope in full flower a week or so back, and then on December 10th Lenten-rose (Helleborus orientalis), Green Hellebore (H. viridis) and Pink Campion (Silene x hampeana) were all flowering at Slimbridge (the WWT reserve in Gloucestershire),

reeaallly? Are they easy enough to spot because I might be going to slimbridge in the xmas holidays and I havent seen any of those other than winter heliotrope

[KeenTeen17]

I will have to check on a patch of sweet violet then!

[JennyS]

A clump of daffodils with flowerbuds showing here ...... and some big, blobby snowflakes falling.....

[Jez]

Worked on Friday doing a winter tidy up and noticed a few gladiolus not quite yet in flower, Scabious still going strong with new flowers also to come, this has been in flower since August. Also noticed Hellebores set to flower any time now!