I am an avid follower of the British gardening show Gardener’s World. And I’m super jealous of the fact that Britains get to enjoy flower blooming as early as February (the even occasionally have stuff blooming in December and January!!!)

But this winter… it was feeling like we might just see it in Southern Ontario.

Like many readers in the Eastern half of the U.S., Southern Ontario had been experiencing a very mild winter so far (and apparently the blame is on Mr. El Nino). We had a good dump of snow on Hallowe’en, and a couple of dustings , but nothing that’s lasted more than a couple of days.

And the gardens…

The gardens were pretty darn green! Above is a bunch of the foxglove seedlings I planted in late summer. They are are going to make a fantastic showing this summer. This kills me, because I couldn’t keep foxgloves going at the townhouse… now I’ll be overrun by them if I’m not careful!

It’s not totally surprising that the native plants, like the Sneezeweed and Columbine above can sprout in temps that hover just above freezing.

But the New Dawn Climbing rose has not only kept most of her leaves (as have several of the other roses) but she’s put on some new growth too.

And that bud there, that’s a Honeysuckle bud. I doubt it will bloom – it’s been there since Christmas… but it hasn’t been cold enough to kill it and knock it off.

Like Dee, I have daffodils sprouting. As well as hyacinths, and garlic! I’m very excited about that garlic! It will be mid-summer before I can harvest it though.

There sedum and peonies sprouting, and the pussywillow were putting on buds… it definitely didn’t have a January vibe in the garden this year.

In fact, the only thing that did look January was the Holly bush. I gave it a major chop last summer and it’s rewarded me with MASSES of berries. The sparrows haven’t bothered with it yet, but they will soon.

Of course, this was all until Friday. The temps dropped, the wind picked up and bam!

Winter arrived! Temps are supposed to stay below freezing for at least a week. So I guess I won’t be getting my British garden any time soon…