Bring me sunshine… but not too much, and make sure you pass the sunscreen.

Britons, as a nation, are an odd lot. We moan constantly about the weather – and not just as individuals, even large corporations (such as rail companies) will have the odd (or not so odd) whinge about, or place the blame on, the weather. When it rains all the time we complain that it’s too wet, yet when we get three or more days of sunshine together there are people that start to worry about drought. Apparently the summer we’ve just had was ‘too hot’ and ‘too dry’ and the winter was ‘too warm’.

Anyone stop to think that perhaps we’re just ‘too fussy’?

Gardeners across the country have written in to magazines or phoned up radio stations to complain that this plant or that plant has continued flowering too long, started flowering too early, or just not flowered at all. Ok, I’m no exception, the plants in my garden constantly surprise me with regards to their behaviour – but at the end of the day I’m just grateful they’re flowering at all! If they flower early they might throw your planting scheme out of whack, but at least you still get to enjoy their beauty. Flowering too early may well put them at risk of frost damage, but nature (on the whole) knows what it’s doing, and the simple fact of the matter is that natural selection will ensure that only the best plants remain in your garden. Climates are changing, we’ve resigned ourselves to that, and gardeners are trying to adapt their gardens to those changes. More ‘Mediterranean’ planting schemes are being suggested in order to make the most of the changing weather patterns – but if the plants in your garden already are trying to adapt then why not leave them to it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Next time you listen to the weather in the morning and are told that it’s too hot/too cold don’t complain, adjust your outfit accordingly and go out and enjoy it. If it’s cold enough to make an Inuit pause in their steps then throw on your thermals and walk outside happy in the knowledge that at least you’re not having to worry about sunscreen. When the summer gets too hot or humid, sit out in a park or garden and relish the fact that you’re getting a tan without having to pay for a flight to somewhere exotic.

Take life as it comes, and don’t waste time complaining about it – just think how much worse it could be.

27/02/2004 ©