Spring

On Saturday it was definitely mild - if a little breezy. It felt, as Kenneth Grahame put it, that “Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below.. "

Yesterday, I had cause to go first to Norwich and then onwards via Acle to North Walsham. The sun shone, the sky was blue and Norfolk looked good and felt good. So good that there was a perceptible air of puzzlement if not disappointment amongst those at the plant nursery that not much new growth was on offer. Of course, had it been chilly and damp, this wouldn't have been noticed by anyone, always supposing they had gone to look.

The constant supply of statistics - warmest, sunniest and so on - coupled with the underlying climate change story means that our expectations outpace reality. Yes, the weekend was mild and yes, the last couple of months have seen sunny days, but it is still early March and despite the statistics, February was not unusually mild. Plant growth is accordingly more or less where it normally is in this part of the world. In fact looking back at photographs from last year everything is slightly later this year.

Just to prove the point, today after an early frost we are back with grey skies, a chilly breeze and a little dampness..... but there is no denying Spring is indeed on the move again, and our first featured exhibition of the season is just three weeks away.