Big celebrations in Yorkshire today as the rhubarb forcers won EU name status.  As reported by the BBC, rhubarb grown by candlelight in an area of Yorkshire known as the Rhubarb Triangle has been given European protected name status. 

There are two tips for getting the most out of your rhubarb forcer.  One is remembering to put the lid on now.  The second is rembering to take the lid off before the stems push it off, otherwise like me you may have to resort to elastic bands to hold the cracked lid together.

It has been a long winter and the ground is still far too cold to start sowing seed of any kind, but there are signs that the birds sense spring.  The dead wood that we leave for insects has been particularly popular with birds this month and all garden birds are on the look out for nesting sites, so its a good time to clean out and hang bird boxes. Keep filling the bird feeders too as garden bird food is still in short supply.

The snowdrops are well and truly up now and the Christmas roses are starting to strutt their stuff.  Christmas roses never seem to make it in time for Christmas and I'm pleased that they don't.  They would almost certainly get lost in the hustle and bustle of the festive period.  At this time of year, when the days are getting longer and I'm starting to venture out more, I can really appreciate these delicate beauties.  'February roses' are fine by me.

Christmas roses appear to be one of the few plants bucking the trend to flower earlier.  If only more plants were!  Yesterday's Guardian highlighted how earlier springs could destroy the delicate balance of wildlife.  Yet another undesirable consequence of climate change.