18 April.  This is how far we have got. The siberian-sourced hawthorn on the roadside is green. The larches show a green haze. The viburnum mariesii has small leaves. The hornbeam leaves are just sprouting. The native hawthorn is still bare, as are the birch, sycamore, oak, ash, beech.  This on a date when normally the countryside is fully green.
Daffodils haven't been stopped, thank goodness.

Spring. Not.

Garden news for 2013 so far. After a few pleasant days in Feb, January returned. March was a story of frost and bitter east winds.  No change so far in April.  Some roses are beginning to sprout a little and that's all. No sign of a leaf on a tree.  The daffodils have struggled up, brave souls they are.  In an average year, mid April sees all the shrubs and trees in leaf except the oaks.
The camellias at the top of the garden are flowering though. We're waiting for them to grow 8 feet high and wide like the ones at Bodnant. Fine feathers rhodo in that same border is looking well also.