In message , Rob Overfield
writes
The plants in hedgerows are responding to conditions, nothing else. So by
that test, its been an ok summer...!

Not even that much. Good weather at flowering time, so good pollination,
which for most hedgerow plants means a decent spell in May and no really
late frosts. It can also reflect back on the summer before the flowering
as being good, because the flower potential is already established in
the buds all winter and was initiated by the quality of growth in the
previous summer....so part of what they are telling us is that summer
2003 was good for growth.
--
Murray McGregor