The Countryside in December

We certainly experienced Buchan's third (and final) warm spell at the beginning of this month (see Banishing Winter), the weather having been extremely mild and many plants being fooled into becoming more advanced than it is safe for them! Daffodils are several inches high in places which get a fair amount of sun, and the gorse flowers are definitely on the increase. In the garden, the witch hazel is sporting its frilly yellow flowers.

Those who walk around taking little notice of their environment would comment that nothing much is happening with the plants and trees, but they would be wrong! The elder tree, considered the tree of death by some, is covered with tiny new leaves; their development may well be slowed down by the frost, but they are there, ready to grow on when it gets warmer in the spring. Interesting that the tree of death should be the first to hold the promise of new life, for indeed it will be the first into full leaf next year.

The conifers - the pines, firs spruce etc take pride of place now that the deciduous trees have lost their leaves; the silver firs standing out with the 'silver' on the underside of their needles. The red berries of the yew and holly are much in evidence, no doubt to be relished by the birds. There are still berries on the leafless hawthorn and on many ornamental shrubs and trees, though the rowanberries are long since gone. Large bunches of green berries adorn the ivy.

Now is the time to get to know the shape of the trees and learn which tree is which in winter. Look for the ash tree with its upturned branch ends and black sooty buds; the sticky buds of the horse chestnut; the craggy fractal formations of the oak, with its crowded buds; the long fine whippy end twigs on the silver birch, and many more. Go to a tree which you can recognise when in leaf, and take in its winter shape.

Look even closer and you will find that there are young green cones developing on the pines; catkins on the alder and the birch, with even bigger catkins on the hazel, which should open in January - and that is only next month!!

We have had some frosts, just a couple so far, but that is as it should be. Many plants need the cold just as in other climates some need to be fired for their correct functioning. Most weather sayings are concerned with the ill consequences of a mild or wet Yuletide, both to mankind and the coming year. One such states that, "A mild winter means a full church yard."

We will celebrate at the solstice, with as much joy and enthusiasm as we can; and we will party on Twelfth Night with a traditional 'boar's head', a mumming play and seasonal songs, and by then we will begin to notice that the days are getting longer and the sun has indeed been 'reborn' and is heading back our way!!