January 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Hoy]

In Norway the right to roam has been a customary law since time immemorial. We did not lose it during the Middle Ages either as the feudal system never was established here. The right to roam was formally enacted in 1957.

[Gabriela]

The right to roam laws in Norway and Scotland are absolutely wonderful.
Canada follows USA of course, and all that Robert said applies here as well. Especially camping is strongly regulated. Fortunatelly there is plenty of public lands to roam about, but one has to keep in mind that any fence, however small, means 'no trespassing'.

[Hoy]

The first snowdrops in full flower.

[astragalus]

No help available last fall so the chicken wire protection never was placed over the rock garden. It is definitely a 2 person job. Here is one of the results of pruning from the antlered rats.

1. Daphne 'Aurora'

[Maggi Young]

oh my word, Anne - that IS a sorry sight. Is it quite unusual for you to have no snow cover by now? I thought these horros would not yet be revealed to you. 

[astragalus]

Maggi, in recent years our snow cover has been unreliable. But this winter has so far been a non-event. It has only been below 0F maybe 3 times and the lowest was -8F, not too cold. Temperatures have gone up and down. Everyone seems to be suffering from allergies and colds or something and the ticks are still active. So much better when it gets cold, snows, and you see the ground again maybe the end of March. The daphne is not the only victim - they have even pawed acantholimons apart and not being able to eat them, leave them strewn about.  They started attacking the garden about three days after the hunting season ended

[Catwheazle]

Spring is far away :-(
Bernd

[Gabriela]

Spring is far away :-(
Bernd

Yes Bernd but the blue sky over the snow capped mountains looks very nice I don't remember when was last that I've seen the sun...

[Steve Garvie]

There are hints of Spring here.
Dionysia curviflora -This clone is a pin. I have another clone which is thrum though it is not as floriferous.

[GordonT]

Stunning plant and Photo, Steve!

Winter in Nova Scotia is being decidedly unpredictable, and the gardens are showing it. Yesterday's ice storm didn't amount to much, and the temperature today hit 9C. This was our home a few years ago in January. Since then, we never know what kind of winter we'll get.

Here are a few shots of the gardens today. Rhododendron wiltonii is already showing damage from a sudden drop to -20 C last month, before we had any snow. The rest of the garden looks pretty good. Our two Hebe species: pinguifolia pagei, shown alongside Dianthus Little Boy Blue, and odora, alongside Calluna White Lawn, are both looking great.

[Carolyn]

Some photos from my garden today:

Cyclamen coum, enjoying dry conditions under the oak tree
Helleborus ericsmithii
Helleborus Anna's Red, just about to open
Eranthis, suddenly into growth
Hamamelis Pallida

[Carolyn]

And a few more:

This is always the first hellebore to flower, often in December.
Iris Katharine Hodgkin.
Eranthis 'Schwefelglanz', which apparently comes true from seed. These were sown fresh in May 2014 and are flowering for the first time. The flower DOES look paler than normal, I will reserve judgment till it opens properly in the sun.
Daphne mezereum album, which has been in flower since Xmas.
Hamamelis Diane.

[Carolyn]

Help, Maggi, my photos are all upside down! This always seems to happen when I take photos on the iPad and post them from it. Can anyone offer advice on how to correct this?

[Maggi Young]

I'll correct them in a wee while Fixed now,  Carolyn.


It 's a question of how the pix were first  saved I think.  Not sure what you can do exactly, since I don't  use an i-pad or camera phone. Will try to get Ian to  make me some notes later, which I will post in the forum photo  help thread in the General Area  of the forum  HERE

He says  if the pix are flipped in the device  or as you resize them, to make them display the right way up as you see them then they will rotate when posted here, back to the original orientation.  If you don't flip them they'll be  correct here in the first place.

[Cfred72]

I'm sorry when that happens. But I do not know why. On my camera, it is not indicated in which direction will be the photo published on the forum ... It bothers me, and I apologize to those who have to twist their neck by my fault.

Carolyn, when I see Iris and Eranthis in bloom ... At home everything is still frozen under the ice and snow. It freezes hard. Have announced 8 and 9 ° C for the weekend.
Cyclamen coum are also in flower with us but under the snow.