A casualty of Storm Doris

A big branch was stripped from this horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff, in late February

It must be the time of year – in February 2016 Storm Imogen felled a couple of trees in Thompson’s Park, Cardiff (see my blog post here), and this time Storm Doris brought the strong winds – although luckily we did not have it as bad here in South Wales as those in the north of the country.

However, we did have some small tree losses and this horse chestnut in Llandaff Fields lost a big bough.

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Two victims of Storm Imogen

A tree felled by Storm Imogen in Thompson’s Park, Cardiff, last week

I still have so many happy images to share of Thompson’s Park in Cardiff, but when I visited last week, on the day after Storm Imogen, the tree damage claimed my attention instead. I know many people have pooh-poohed the new UK and Ireland Met Office system of naming the Atlantic storms of the autumn and winter alphabetically, but it does at least give a point of reference and stop the storms merging into one. Imogen was the ninth storm since November.

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Signs of spring between the storms…

Cherry blossom sprouting on a roadside tree

After months of rain and gales, with floods and falling trees, this week has been comparatively calm in Wales. Winter probably hasn’t finished with us yet, but at last there have been real signs of spring.

I noticed catkins and cherry blossom on roadside trees as I was walking home in the dusk the other night, so took my camera with me next morning. They must have

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Can it be February fill-dyke already?

River Wye in full flow at Hay-on-Wye

Who knows where the time goes? I can’t believe it’s already February. I haven’t finished with January yet! In fact I haven’t even finished with Christmas.

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Signs of spring in January…

Dark pink hybrid hellebore in the garden in January

We have had a LOT of rain here in Wales, but at least so far this winter has been mild. You may recall that December still felt like late autumn.

As we near the end of January, there are signs of spring. The hellebores have

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One misty moisty morning…

Misty hammock webs on Euonymus…

I am interrupting my summer holiday picture blog posts to take note of the September weather here in South Wales. There is a nip in the air and yesterday autumn lived up to its reputation as the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”.

I couldn’t have told you until I looked it up, but that line is

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Rain, beautiful rain…

Lily after rain…

At last, we have had a wetter spell of weather after the heatwave. Listen here to Rain Rain Rain Beautiful Rain sung by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The plants have

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A smattering of snow…

Song thrush (Turdus philomelos) in the snow…

Snow is a rarity here in Cardiff, as it is a city warmed by trade and industry on the soft south coast of Wales. So when we do get snow, I am soon out in the garden with my camera – even though there is not a lot to see.

The snow fell yesterday, but I saw it in the garden only as

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Blue skies, nothing but blue skies…

Blue skies over Penarth Pier – although this was a winter sky, in December 2009…

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies…
Since the jetstream moved north again a couple of weeks ago and summer arrived at last, I can’t get that song out of my head. Here’s the version by Frank Sinatra…

We had maybe a fortnight of dazzling blue skies and scorching sun here in Wales but now it’s turned changeable again. Which is the way I like it, as it

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Wetter days and better days…

Wet pelargonium in the garden in summer 2012 – more plant pictures later in this post…

As anyone living in the UK will tell you, it has been one awful summer – cold for the time of year and wet, wet, wet.

Although March and May were dry, June and July have been so bad that

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