Yokel wrote:
"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message
ps.com...

Did it have small white flowers with red centres? There is a winter
flowering type which does and our neighbour's tree has been out for a few
weeks now. This is normal behaviour for this particular variety.

I rather believe that it did. With a bit of luck it might turn up on
the site I'll be at tomorrow -or today rather. I'll look out for it.

Many spring flowers rely on daylength as well as temperature cues and so
there is a limit to how early they can come out. Bulbs normally need both a
cold spell and a warm spell to make them come up - the reports of early
bulbs in recent years have been due to a tendency for a cold snap in
mid-autumn followed by a mild winter, making the bulbs (which have no way of
knowing otherwise) think that "Winter" has come and gone and it is now
"Spring".

An exceptional lack of cold weather might actually delay the
Spring bulbs because they might still be waiting for Winter to pass.

I have seen a number of unusual flowers for the time of year round this part
of the world but most of them are last summer or autumn's offerings which
have not experienced enough severe weather to kill them off.

I'll be peed of if this next week is fine and I can't get out in the
garden being at work till dark. I haven't even been out to see if any
weeds need culling before the stuff I put in sprouts or shoots or
whatever it's called.