November 15, 2008

Spring in November?


Today is again a dreadful, windy, rainy and dark November day outside.
But, I am all tucked in sitting on my favorite chair with a cup of hot coffee and my laptop. I am comfortably relaxing in front of the fireplace while "Batcat" (which is the cat) is lying on the sheepskin at my feet, enjoying the warmth of the fire.
I read in the newspaper today that we are experiencing the warmest year on record in Denmark, right after 2006 and 2007. Particularly November and December seems to be warmer than usual.

I took these photographs of the bushes and shrubs in my garden earlier this week, to document a strange phenomenon, which I have been observing for a few years. It might perhaps be linked to the increase in average temperatures. The pictures here seem to bee depicting budding branches in the middle of the spring, but these are indeed taken in the middle of November of my two hedges in bloom.
Even though the flowers are small and weak, they are still there. Both the shrubs and the evergreen normally flower in late May, early June and it is an astonishing sight, when all the trees are bare and the nights are already frosty and cold.



I have already once written about the fact that flowers and fruits seemed to appear on rosebushes simultaneously in September. This week, my rose next to the fence was blooming.

I wonder, if this is natural occurrence and quiet common, or whether the nature is slowly changing.Or whether we are changing it.

11 comments:

Diane said...

I hope it's just a fluke (and a nice one at that) but I fear it's not. I worry so much about what is happening (and what we're doing) to this planet and it's environment/atmosphere.

Regardless, though, at least you can enjoy a little bit of spring on a cold November day :)

Zuzana said...

Diane, I feel the same and feel helpless at times as well.
Yes, seeing the flowers nevertheless makes me feel like experiencing some kind of magic.:))

. said...

Yes, I think we are changing it. I have friends who've experienced similar occurrences in the past few years with their gardens. I hear, "My poor plants/trees don't know when to blossom/bloom anymore. It's killing them." This makes me so sad. I hope we can end this cycle.

That being said, there is something beautiful and magical about a blossom in winter. And speaking of winter, it's 90 degrees out where I am. I find myself actually wishing for a little taste of winter today! Enjoy a bit of the season for me, my friend!! :)

Donna said...

How nice to find such pretty blooms. Mother Nature is always surprising us.

Melanie Gillispie said...

As always, beautiful pictures! We're still warm as anything down here in Charlotte. I take my jacket to work everyday, but I never put it on. Although, it was raining the other day and I got fussed at by this older lady who saw me walking through the parking lot with no jacket and no umbrella. She was standing outside smoking. So, yeah.

By-the-way, back at you over at my place.

Zuzana said...

Belle, thank you for that beautiful comment. I cannot believe you have 90 degrees! I am envy. I love the heat, the climate here is not agreeing with me at all. Please send some of the sunshine my way.:)

Donna, yes, I love nature. If we just pay a little bit attention, there are miracles happening every day.

Mel, I so miss the climate of the southeast. I remember going shopping for Christmas presents in my t-shirt in Durham. As with Bell, I so envy you the weather.:)
Now I am off to your place to see what is “back at me” there.;)))

Bloom and Glean said...

What lovely pictures, even if they were an unexpected November sight. Is windy and rainy fairly typical for November in your part of the world?

Tom said...

Beautiful pictures, Protege.

I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to global warming although I am a climate change believer. Make of that what you want! What I do remember, over a decade ago now, was seeing some of the oddest insects in the UK which I had never seen before in almost 30-years of living there. It convinced me that things were clearly changing, and that was some time ago now!

Zuzana said...

Hazel, November is very rainy and windy here in Scandinavia. By far the wind is the worst.;)

Tom, I know what you mean, the opinions about this wary depending on whom you talk to. Over the last decade many birds have stop migrating south and new insects and plants have started to call the north their home.
Some predict that Scandinavian can in not to distant future grow vine and start making money on tourist industry as this will be the new Mediterranean.;)

Hilary said...

My totally selfish reaction would be that the longer the warmth can last through a winter, the better it is. I dislike the cold. Our winters last too long and a sight such as your spring-like photos are like a tonic. And we've only just begun.. sigh!

Zuzana said...

Hilary, living this far up north in Europe, I so share your sentiments! And I am a sun loving person who dislikes the cold terribly as well.
We have a saying in Scandinavia that goes something like this:
“All months of the year have 31 days, except for April, June, September and November, which have 30 days. And then there is January and February, that each has 60 days!”
Lets hope that the winter is shorter this year.