Country diary: The holly and meadowsweet are flowering out of time | Phil Gates

Egglestone, Teesdale: Unseasonal blooming could be the norm if we have more summer droughts and mild autumns - how closely is this being recorded?Another mild, late autumn day, almost warm enough for summer. A meadowsweet plant, coming into full bloom again on the road verge, seems convinced. Several male holly trees in riverbank woodland beside the River Tees are enjoying a second spring, with winter only days away: their slender branches are studded with clusters of small, waxy-white flowers.I wonder about those seasonally confused hollies. Holly trees are either male or female, and only the pollen-producing males are flowering again. They bloomed, on schedule, six months ago when there were plenty of insects to carry their pollen to neighbouring females, currently laden with scarlet berries. After this autumn's futile effort, with flowers "born to blush unseen / And waste its sweetness on the desert air", it will be interesting to see if these males manage to perform again next May. Continue reading...