Confusing?

I'll say. It's the beginning of May and that means we still have nearly a month of Autumn to go and the garden is in a state of total confusion.  For a start the paper white jonquils are in flower. See?

And that was before the more ordinary cream jonquils in the front yard were even showing above the ground. There are a few shoots of those visible now but they're usually the first to arrive, not the last. The grape hyacinths, which usually don't even shoot until the end of May, have been up for nearly a month as have the yellow jonquils. On top of that I went out this morning and discovered that the red poppies which also don't usually emerge until into June are already appearing in the garden where I still have pumpkins growing and fruiting. Yes, I know most people don't grow pumpkins in flower beds but they came up as volunteers and who am I to argue with a gift from Nature.

It's not surprising the plants don't have a clue, though, because temperatures have been going crazy. On Thursday our maximum was 20.1° C followed on Friday by 21.7° C, then yesterday, after dropping to 7.6° C overnight, it reached a top of 28.7° C and the rest of the week is more of the same. It's a rollercoaster ride I can tell you with the winter bedclothes going on and off so often I now just fold them and leave them at the foot of the bed.

I'm not really complaining, though. It's been a long, hot, dry summer and cooler days are more than welcome. I just wish it would be a little more consistent - and I'm guessing the plants feel the same.