2018 has been a strange year in my garden.
The "Beast from the East" brought snow in March, a time of year when our mild south coast location normally means the last of the frosts and the start of spring flowers. This was followed by an unusually hot and dry summer across the UK with the result that a lot of plants simply couldn't find enough water to grow and flower. Now - in what should be autumn - we have an Indian summer with temperatures reaching 20C on the sunniest days.
The ongoing warmth coupled with increase rainfall has finally brought my garden to life. Plants which I'd normally expect to see in spring - Rhododendron and Choisya ternata - are blooming again, alongside summer roses, sage and marigolds. At the same time my witch hazel has started to flower 2 months earlier than usual. With leaves finally starting to fall and berries appearing (in some cases I have spring flowers and autumn berries on a single plant) it seems as if we have all 4 seasons at once at the moment!
Here are some photos taken over the last 2 days: