Climate change doesn't exist. ExxonMobil tells me so, so it must be true. Two weeks ago I noticed crocuses popping up and my hydrangea's are now starting to bud. I moved my camellia pots to a slightly more shady position on the terrace and they are about ready to bloom, a few weeks ahead of 2007. Horticulturalists in the UK are noticing similar, odd behavior.
Since the 1980s, plant blooming times have come forward at a steady pace, but according to Ms Bell, such a leap forward from year to year is "completely unprecedented".
"During the first five years of the 1980s [daffodils] would have opened on or around 12 February, but by the 2000s the average date they were opening was 27 January. In these 25 years the average date that they open has come forward 16 days, which is just amazing," Ms Bell said.
