Early-flowering plants put a spring in the step

THE days are dark, the bank account's bare and the tinsel's been taken down for another year.

But if you're the type whose soul is cheered by the sight of flowers, then this January you're in luck.

The balmy temperatures we've had this winter – yes, really – mean some of spring has already sprung in Alderney. Daffodils are in bloom and rosemary is pushing out its delicate lilac flowers.

'It's really bizarre,' said gardener Jack Bingham of Longis Bay Garden Centre. 'I've been in a garden in Longis where daffodils have been flowering since Christmas. Roses are still out and lots of wallflowers, which don't normally flower until April or May, are blooming. Arum lilies are also starting to flower and that doesn't usually happen until March or April.'

Antirrhinum – so-called 'bunny rabbits', from the snapdragon family – is another species flowering early, while some plants are already self-seeding.

Ceanothus, also known as the California lilac, is blooming for a third time in some gardens, instead of its customary two showings per year. But the snowdrop, a January visitor quite partial to cold and dry weather, is remaining in its earthy bed. That's because snowdrops, says Jack, don't like damp and with 181.7mm of rainfall last month, compared with a 101.2mm average, and just 84.6mm in the same month last year, there's certainly been a bit of that.

But even with only six dry days in the month, last December marked the warmest on record in Alderney since 1955.

The average daily temperature on the island in December was 10.4C, compared with just 5.5C in 2010 – when Alderney had snow – and 8.6C over the last 20 years.

'In Alderney we are seeing more extremes of temperature, just like everyone else in the world, and that's having an effect on plants,' explains Jack.

As a result, he no longer recommends escallonia, an evergreen, red-flowered shrub which used to thrive as a hedging plant in Alderney.

'Over the last two or three years the cold has killed it off,' he explains. 'It's really been affected by the change in weather.'

Nice though all this is to look at, it's hard not to feel a twinge of unease. The natural order of things has been interrupted. It's a bit like the slight queasiness that looking back on the orgy of Christmas eating and spending invokes in the cold light of January.

In the garden, says Jack, a cold snap will put the new growth on ice for a spell and could shake things back into their normal order. Just like a spending freeze on an over-exerted bank account. Nice while it lasted – but it will be good to be back to normal, too.