Warm

 

An interesting book I got for Christmas, along with pretty bookmark. Phenology is "the study of the timing of recurring natural events, like plants flowering, birds migrating, or insects emerging, and how these cycles relate to seasonal changes and climatic shifts." 

Gardeners are always tuned in to this, but I wasn't familiar with the scientific term phenology. 

 

 

Seattle has been unseasonably warm this December and the camellia is already blooming. That doesn't mean much year to year, but over the decades, spring in the northern hemisphere (defined by leaf budding) is occurring several weeks earlier. I have lived long enough to attest to this. 

According to the book, this especially impacts insects and migrating birds, and there are depressing statistics, such as over 22% of butterflies have disappeared in the last 20 years. 

Well, a frost is probably still on the way for January or February, and it's an unusual winter when we don't get a little snow in the lowlands. These geraniums will be toast. 

But in the meantime, I can't recall seeing so many insects and birds and other critters in the yard, enjoying the messy bounty. 

The squirrels have trained me to throw peanuts on the deck, when they show up at the back door. It wasn't hard.