It's hard to define spring here. We have a rainy season (most years) that is cool but rarely truly cold, and a dry season, no rain whatsoever, that is warm, occasionally hot. The transitions between the two are gradual, and I suppose you could call them spring and fall. They are pleasant times of the year but by no means the distinct changes one gets in a climate with four distinct seasons.

Daffodils could be considered a symbol of spring. I have some that begin blooming in November, and they wind up some time in late April. I have roses that bloom in the gray days of winter. Most of the trees keep their leaves year round, and only imported ones lose turn color in the fall.

Right now we are happy to get some late rains. This has been the driest year in California since some time in the 1880's, and we have many times the population here now sharing that water than lived here then. It will still be a drought, but any reprieve is welcomed with joy. So yes, the flowers are blooming and the air is soft, but it is the rain that brings the smile to my face.

Rosefolly

Following a mild winter, we broke one or two March days' records for the warmest since records have been kept. Things have just popped up and bloomed very early. My daffodils were gorgeous and lasted about three weeks. The redbud and the dogwood trees are blooming at the same time when normally the dogwood follows by maybe a month. We have had the air conditioning on a few times because the house was so hot at night. The sun sets against sliding glass doors in our bedroom, so it gets quite warm.

Then last weekend we had a hail storm that broke enough holes in the vinyl roof on the patio that it could serve as a sieve, thus requiring a metal replacement in case it ever happens again.

All the trees are putting out their leaves, and everything is as green as I've ever seen. It's just gorgeous. We have replanted some landscaping that died when we replaced the old stuff that was here when we moved a couple of years ago and hope and pray it takes this time.

I sat out on the holey patio this afternoon and finished a book that is due back at the library tomorrow when we are supposed to get more rain and a cool day but then warming up again with lots of sunshine. Fall is my favorite season, but spring is a close second.

As a newbie here in Western Washington state (from New Jersey), I can only say its VERY wet. In fact the wettest March (& Feb) they've had in quite a long time. Nevertheless, I see some daffodils & crocuses, as well as some blooming bushes, most of whose names I don't know. Some of the trees have large buds which look as tho they would open in 2 seconds. Temps have been in the 50s to barely reaching 60, so it could be worse.

Here, in south Wales, only about 60 miles from Vee, we are experiencing the same spring. The only difference is that mine is surrounded by Workmen who have been digging up the road and pavement outside and up and down for WEEKS now! Birdsong is covered by the noise of drills and stone-cutting equipment and JCB engines. I can't work - can't concentrate for the noise. My view is blocked by 2 or 3 JCBs at a time moving around outside my gates. This is a very narrow side-road so if I want to get the car out I have to go and ask them to move alll their equipment. Since they have put traffic-lights on the main road which my road runs into (I'm on the corner of the two), this complicates matters. Oh - and the air -the beautiful, spring air - is polluted with dust and with stone-dust. Since I have emphysema (COPD), I have to wear a mask every time I open the front door. I cannot sit out, of course. The cafe across the road where I sometimes have a coffee is besieged and there's an obstacle course to get through to get in. My patience is thin now; I've only lost my rag with them once, but if they don't go away soon...... I'm going to... I'm going to......

Dido in Distress

Here in coastal SC we are having a most extraordinary spring. It began early, in January. By February, we were having days of temperatures in the 80's and were intermittently wearing shorts and sandals! The leaves on the trees are almost full out and look more like May than March. I'm enjoying wistaria, roses, camellias, and wild honeysuckle in full bloom at present. Tomorrow temps will rise to 87.

Yesterday a friend and I drove out to Middleton Plantation and it was glorious: trails and trails of enormous azaleas in full bloom, almost neon-bright colors, frolicking lambs, peacocks, guinea hens, goats, and terraced lawns winding down to the river amidst huge old live oaks. We spent the entire day there walking the wooded trails and had a picnic. The original house was built in the 1700's, a working rice plantation, but was destroyed in the Civil War. The Middleton family is distantly related to Kate Middleton, wife of William of England. The claim is that these gardens are the oldest in America. I should add, as an aside, we saw no less than 8 baby alligators!

We had a peculiarly warm winter, and an off-the-charts warm spring with a few days near 80F. The cherry blossoms (here in DC) opened at least 2 weeks earlier than expected, and everything is leafing out, or in blossom.

My favorite sign of spring is my flowering crab apple. We planted it outside the kitchen window in the lower garden many years ago, and it is glorious in bloom, filling the window like a vast cloud. What a beautiful sight each morning when I come downstairs!

Dido, I hope the construction ends soon and that your peace (and good air) is restored!

Mary, I'm trying to get my head round your Middleton Plantation visit and the (to me) strange juxtaposition of lambs and alligators. It could give a different slant to Blake's poem "Little lamb who made thee?" to Little Lamb who ate thee?.
Totally non-PC as it is I, who have no dislike of spiders and other creepy-crawlies, would happily turn all alligators and crocodiles into shoes and bags.

Dido, I too hope they finish 'doing' your road soon, this dry weather must certainly raise the dust and send it straight down into your respiratory system.

BTW where is everyone these days? Is it Spring Break in the US? Over here we have a few days off over the Easter period officially from Good Friday to the following Tuesday.
The Good Friday's of my childhood when everywhere was quiet and the only shop open was the bakers for a couple of hours in the morning selling hot cross buns has now become a 'working' day for store/shop workers. I await the time when the Govt will force us to hold an 'Easter' type break at the same time every year, as they have done with the 'Whitsun' holiday (ie Pentecost 40 days after Easter).
I wonder if Christmas Day is the only 'religious' day still 'kept' as a public holiday in the US?

We also had a very mild winter and a very early spring. Last week it nearly hit 80 F and I'm in Connecticut! This week we're back to more average March weather, coldish and rainy, which is almost comforting as I thought we were going directly into summer. Despite the warm weather, I am still convinced there will be one more snowfall to bookend the blizzard we had in October -- I hope not, but I have a feeling the weird weather isn't finished with us yet.

Everything has bloomed early -- my forsythia is nearly past, daffodils and grape hyacinth are in full bloom, as are my early azaleas. It's hard to believe it's only March, it looks like May.

Dido, hope your road construction is finished soon, I know what a pain it can be. We had quite a bit of that ourselves during December, replacing water lines to the street (my front yard looks like a bomb went off), and I'm told the Power That Be will be tearing up our street to replace the main sewer line come August. Yikes!

Vee, many places of business here in the U.S. are closed on Good Friday but definitely not the shopping sites. Last year the malls and big-box stores opened in the wee hours (some at midnight) on December 26, and they were mobbed by people anxious for bargains and to spend their Christmas gift cards. I can't think who would want anything badly enough to get up in the middle of the night after Christmas. We have become so PC that the term "religious holiday" is a no-no, but last year I noticed sales people saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays much more often than in the past several years. It's such nonsense to me that when total strangers wish me a happy holiday, I always reply, quite cordially, "Merry Christmas to you, too!" Just call me old and crotchety.

Dido, I'm sorry, too, to hear of all your upheaval. On a much lesser note, we sat out on the patio this afternoon and it seemed as if everyone on our street was mowing their lawns and/or weed-eating the edges. You couldn't hear yourself think. We also found eleven buds on the climbing roses. I'm a little concerned about that April weather trick, too.

Here in Maine we are enjoying the after effects of the winter-that-wasn't. The crocuses are already finished - usually we don't see them for another month. I am happy to contemplate my almost-full heating oil tank that will not need filling again this year.

Dido, I thought of you this morning. I went into a patient's room where a cacophony of alarms were sounding. I had to shout to be heard - "Why didn't you call someone?" The patient looked at me in bewilderment - he is too deaf to hear anything. (The obvious question of why didn't the STAFF hear the alarms is too complicated to answer.) Anyway, I was thinking that some temporary deafness would be the thing for you right now! Not permanent of course. Just lasting until the trucks and jackhammers pack up for good.

I cannot comment on Spring of course. I am just thankful that the heatwaves have gone and we are having pleasant days for Autumn. After days of 100+F, mid-70s actually feel cool!
Dido, how horrid for you. I once had a new home in a suburb that was being built around me. The constant hammering and dust was difficult to live with. The garden was pure sand so you can imagine the state of the house and the children until we got a lawn to grow!

Dido,

A short trip away would be very restorative. Perhaps there is a relative or a friend who needs a visit? Or some place you have always wanted to see, but put off until now? This seems like a truly excellent time to get out of town!

Best wishes,
Rosefolly

Here in Texas, we seem to have jumped over Spring and landed in summer. The temps are averaging around 85 and 90 degrees most days, and it's all t-shirts and shorts on campus. The blooms in the trees have past and actually, things look pretty green for around here.

Bit worried about the heat. If it's only March and it's already high 80's, what does it portend for July/August? ...

We had snow flurries here Saturday morning, but nothing that stuck :) Siobhan, did you have snow?

Thanks for good wishes. Rosefolly, it's a good idea and there's nothing I'd like better than to go away to friends/relatives. Unfortunately, theirs is a long job: they've been about a month doing my side, now they're on the other!

But as a contribution to a beautiful spring, I'll tell you there's a Kerria flowering like mad in great yellow pompoms, all down one border of my garden. I say 'alll down', because it's taking over. On the other hand, for this one time of year it is very beautiful - especially in the sunshine.

Dido

We had a bit of snow last week - a dusting - but then it turned to rain and washed it all away. We have had cooler, more seasonal temperatures since our heat wave but have experienced day after day after of bright sunshine. Like a cooler, greener southern California with a lot less people. Well, actually it is nothing like southern California.

The sheep haven't been shorn yet, I think they must be quite uncomfortably warm.

I am not certain that some people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area would think that nothing is so beautiful as Spring if they were hit with the tornadoes yesterday afternoon.

Poor things. Have you seen the *amazing* footage of the tornado going through the truck park and just throwing the tractor trailor/juggarnaut containers around as though they were autumn leaves?

It really bought the power of Mother Nature to the forefront for me.

Liz, has tornado season come early to Texas, or is it just part of the strange weather-patterns the world seems to be experiencing now?

I spoke too soon as regard Spring. The UK climate has reverted to January conditions. Last week NE Scotland was one of the warmest places in Europe and now they are suffering from blizzards, high winds, power-outages and frozen lambs.
We are back to wearing our 'winter woollies', keeping the heating on and chopping more kindling for the fire.

Indeed, Vee - we're suffering similar over the border, in Wales. And yesterday (maybe today too) there was snow about 10 miles up the Swansea Valley and on the Brecon Beacons! A N.E. wind just adds to the freezing conditions.

Dido

. . . and five weeks later it is now colder than it was at Christmas, with day time temps in the 40's, and the 30's over night; we are having to wrap up our early spuds.
As soon as 'drought orders' were announced by the Govt the rains came down, resulting in flash flooding . . .though caused more by the hardness of the earth than volume of water.
Had to order more heating oil which works out very roughly at 62p per litre ie. $1 per litre (one litre = 1.76 imperial pint/US pint slightly less) Anyway all our oil/gas/petrol/diesel is very very expensive.
At least chopping kindling helps to keep me warm ;-)

Vee, yes I remember how expensive diesel fuel was when we ran around Europe in our little Berlingo. When I went back to Australia and my family were moaning about the price of fuel, I had to laugh as it was so cheap in comparison, as was the price of electricity and gas. (If driving fuel is "gas" in the US, what do you call the stuff that heats water etc?)
It is Autumn here and we have had rain (much needed) and strong winds (not needed). I finally got a flower on the Bird of Paradise after several barren years and the rain has broken off some of the crest. I tried to wire it back for the look but it fell off! I hope it flowers more often in future.

annpan, gasoline (shortened to gas) is what runs most cars in the U.S. It specifically refers to the liquid product from petroleum that is refined for that purpose. Natural gas (also shortened to gas), the already gaseous form, heats water, etc. I can understand how using the same word for both could be confusing, but Americans automatically know which is meant by the context. Gasoline is not NORMALLY used to heat water nor does natural gas run most cars, except for experimental models.

Lydia, thanks for the explanation. We are trying to run cars experimentally here on all kinds of things because one day the petroleum will be so scarce and be even more expensive. Solar panels and used cooking oils have been tried in a couple of the experiments. (There are all kinds of jokes about the use of cooking oils, of course!)

Spring in the southern tier of NEW YORK State is eye-popping greens and beautiful flowering trees and shrubs.
I always believe it is even more beautiful for us because we have the drab, dreary, gray spell between November through March or April.
Once warm weather arrives ( and there can still be killer frosts at night) the trees are so excited to get into gear that they seem to explode overnight !

It is a bright and cheerful season bursting with new hope !

Well, when I was on holiday, the temps here in TX were H-O-T (as in close to 100), but they have calmed down this week, with there even being a bit of rain and temps in the high 60's. This is great stuff, but I fear won't last long. Summer in Texas can be stinkin' hot sometimes (like last year).

Vee - a while back, you asked about whether this was a strange tornado season. I haven't heard this from the researchers and faculty with whom I work, as the typical tornado season is from about Feb - May and we are in Tornado Alley. (Pretty much down the middle of the US, sort of.) So this activity is quite normal, and we should be coming to an end (or perhaps a pause) in the seasonal craziness. I do know that Texas tends to have more tornadoes than else where although this might be due to sheer size that Texas is.

PBS did a good program featuring quite a few of our researchers and their tornado stuff. It taught me quite a bit and ya'll might find it interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deadliest Tornadoes - NOVA/PBS program

Because of the lack of rain, the Rhododendron did not bloom and my roses have small buds on them compared to last year. However, I've seen the prettiest birds in my yard this spring.

liz, thanks for the tornado info. I couldn't get on the site you posted unless I gave them an email address.
Below is an eg of a teeny weeny tornado in Oxfordshire . . .(so small I cannot see it) all part of the mad wet weather we are having at the moment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kidlington Oxon.

Wow Vee - I don't know why I thought tornadoes didn't really happen in UK, but for some reason, I didn't. This was really interesting, and there are really tornadoes in those pics in your link.

Look at the first segment (the wall with four trees). In the sky is a rotating cloud (high up at bottom of grey cloud) and then a small column comes down (close to third tree). That is a baby tornado - it just hasn't reached the ground yet.

In the other segments, there are also baby tornadoes, but in various stages of development. Again, look for rotating cloud at the bottom of the cloud bank and little columns coming down from the cloud. Rotating clouds are the beginning of a tornado so here in Texas, we are taught to look for those all the time. (Plus the air gets a bit greenish at times.)

See link for diagram of how a tornado forms. Just FYI.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:2117342}}

So - it's been pouring with rain since last Friday here in Texas, and although this is a lot of rain, we shouldn't really be that surprised as it is the rainy season (sort of).

I have heard that UK is in a serious drought with a hose pipe ban, despite the rains for the past weeks. Anyone else with unusual weather patterns going on?

We in SC have had a most unusual season: no winter to speak of at all, perhaps about 6 chilly days. Meanwhile our May weather has been cool and temperate, unlike the hot days we had in Jan., Feb. and March. Despite the severe drought, flowers bloomed, trees leafed out 6 weeks earlier than usual. Now, we are seeing mid-summer blooms, e.g. hydrangeas, oleander, and crepe myrtle!