January 2023: Hazel [corylus avellana] (Haselnuss): Today several hazel blooms started to spread pollen - normally a joyful herald of early spring! But this time it's the sad evidence that we don't get real winters any more. We always had Christmas thaw or some mild west wind days between the cold snaps. But now we have weeklong mild days with rain up to 3000m asl. (!), rarely interrupted by a short cooling. We discuss about +1.5°C or +2°C, but in fact it's already more than both in my region: often we have temperatures of 5 or 10 or even 20°C higher-than-normal (have a look at my weather diagrams). I love spring and flowers but at this time of the year I prefer having winter and seeing frostwork!
