This grace­ful bi-coloured Lily-flowered tulip is vari­ety “Synaeda King”.

If you are feel­ing as February-bedraggled as I am, these spring indi­ca­tors may perk you up a bit: they tell us it won’t be much longer before we re-enter the world of Sweater Weather. 14C any­one? Even that sounds like luxury!

1. We are MORE than half way through February. It’s given us the worst this year, wind-chills and deep freezes fol­lowed by thaws, cre­at­ing a icy, rippled-snow moon­scape for us to pick our way through. All in all, a pre­car­i­ous mess. (Consider invest­ing in a pair of trac­tion enhancers like YakTrax for safety if you do a lot of walk­ing about.) A good part of the worst is behind us, never to be repeated this year. Unless March is just as bad. Forget I said that!

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