The last of the mild weather?

Yesterday may have been the last of the mild weather that has broken all records through December. Certainly we began the New Year here with a dusting of frost. But it's worth noting the wealth of wild flowers I found in bloom when out collecting litter in our local streets yesterday. The first to strike me was a Welsh poppy, well out of season, but since that was probably an escape from a nearby garden I shouldn't take it too seriously, perhaps. Lawns and odd patches of grassland were well studded with daisies, though they will of course take advantage of a spell of decent weather at almost any time of the year. Still, there were also a few celandines, and they really are ahead of the game. Quite a few of the late flowerers from last year are still going too, among them yarrow, hogweed, cat's ear and even a few buttercups! Hogweed does linger on into the winter, given a bit of shelter, but the abundance of winter flowering this year is highly unusual. In places, hawthorn is still retaining a fair few leaves, and in others, hazel catkins are well out and there are leaves appearing on elder and honeysuckle. I predict a hard January . . . let's see if I'm right, and what it will do!