Various locations looking for unseasonal specimens.
Dry but dull.
Two days ago I spotted some buds on a Willow (I think a hybrid, since the specimen exhibits features from a number of Willows). I went back today to get a photograph and was astonished to find catkins emerging. According to the books, that would be about 4 months early, and would be over 3 months earlier than I saw them this year.
Nearby I found that another Willow - Osier - had made new shoots and leaves on top of shoots that had died back after our only night of frost:
Beech is also in bud.
Cow Parsley has returned to a hedge in the south of the town. I suppose late is much easier than early. Lateness can be caused by drought, starvation, cutting, etc.
Two more plants in flower (though they're not really surprises). Red Dead-nettle on the left, and Oilseed Rape on the right.
A late grass (there are a few) - Rough Meadow-grass, Poa trivialis.