THINGS in the garden are definitely not what they should be: that's what everyone was saying at the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland's Spring Show in Dublin last weekend.
January was delightfully mild, but lack of rain delayed early bulbs by weeks. And then with February's rains, "everything came in a heap: snowdrops and crocuses and daffodils practically on top of each other", according to one gardener.
It dried up so much during March that anyone with clay soil was in trouble. "I can't even get my spade into it," complained one woman. Ms Anita Ainsworth (87) could not recall another year like it.
Mr Michael Ward, who scooped almost all the first prizes for daffodils, had to keep his prize bulbs well watered. If they don't get enough moisture the blooms are liable to lie down suddenly on the soil and take a nap.
And with the late-flowering varieties coming into bloom early this year, there is the worrying possibility that there will be little or nothing to display at the late April and May shows.
"I think the climate is changing. It's getting drier every year," claimed one young gardener.
But another, more seasoned, lady of the soil said: "I've seen so many springs - dry and damp, late and early. It always comes out more or less the same in the end."