Thursday 12 January

We are hearing stories from all over the country of plants flowering and insects flying, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's the middle of winter. We too can contribute to this trend. Snowdrops are appearing and have even started to flower up the Castle drive. This doesn't normally happen until February / March, although in 2005 we were seeing snowdrop shoots on 15 January (but no flowers). The extremely mild weather is obviously the cause for this, although the forecast suggests it is going to get much colder over the next week. It's lucky that snowdrops are very tough - in fact their shoots are strengthened with protective sheath covers  to allow them to push up through frozen soil. The sap in their cells also contains extra sugar which acts as an anti-freeze.

Snowdrop shoots. This picture was taken on Monday. Some of these plants are already in flower today.

Blair Castle have a Snowdrop Trail around the Gardens and Grounds which is usually opened in February. However, we are bringing it forward to the 21 January as the snowdrops are already here.