Brrrrrrrrrrr

-8°C at night +8°C the day...I'm always amazed at the resilience of plants, birds , insects etc, enduring not just the cold but also the bounces between extremes.
Frosted snowdrops emerging through the leaf litter, more 'conventional' timing than those that were already flowering in December the previous year. 

2016 is acknowledged as the warmest year on record, and the winter was very mild. I don't remember the coldest temperature here, but it barely frosted, and then mostly in March. It was a year  of lowest fruit harvest I've known in 20+ years.  The (up to...down to!....) -10°C is tough to live with, but hopefully it means a more healthy and productive garden again. 
Even so, I'm surpised  to see how many wild salad plants are still flourishing, plenty of red dead nettle and chickweed...looking much healthier than the cultivated lettuce!  Ground ivy too.

And nettles still growing, usually having a dormant period before returning in March.






 

 A delight to have a robin hopping nearby as I work in the woods...haven't seen many in recent years, are they on the decline aswell?