A bit of sunshine in the Charente Maritime and the seasons seem to slide before your eyes.
The violets appear.
The crocus pop up.
And up.
Daffodils usually signal the spring.
But there are still plenty of snowdrops in the garden.
The catkins are out.
The plum tree seems to be bursting to open its flowers.
The Hellebores are opening.
The Viburnum is buzzing with bees but the air temperature is only 8 degrees centigrade. I thought the air temperature should be much higher for them to be so active.
The winter honeysuckle still has flowers but less than before.
The Valerian has started to flower – in February?
The cellandine has decided it is springtime, much to the relief of the dronefly.
The celandine offers its nectar to bee and fly alike.
The wild strawberries are already flowering along the roadsides and starting to set their fruit.
The sun even brings out the butterflies.
Do they know it is February?
a french garden 
Gosh, you are well ahead of us in the Touraine. I haven’t got half that stuff happening yet.
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This bit of the south west gets a surprisingly mild climate.
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Lovely to see all those signs of spring. Perhaps you have managed to create a special little microclimate this season which is encouraging all this activity.
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How wonderful! We are having proper sunshine here too. No bees or drone flies yet but my garden has been full of aphids for at least a fortnight already! Bad for the roses and solanum jasminoides but good for the camera. Lots of leaf hoppers and midges about too. Looking forward to the first bee.
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Sunshine is just what is needed for some insect shots after the winter.
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Spring indeed in your part of the world. Bees are active here too and our daily highs are not any different to yours. Their buzzing gives the garden a summery feel. Christina
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Even the birds are quieter in the winter. It’s all these sounds that makes being in the garden feel so good.
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Wow! Looks like spring has sprung in your part of the world – lovely sunny pictures. Hope you don’t get a cold snap take those bees etc by surprise.
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Today it felt more like summer. It was only 10-11 degrees C but the sun here is so strong and the sky was completely blue. It feels so different from the UK spring sunshine.
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I know it’s February . . . I can see the snow as I shovel it.
But good to know Spring is out there, somewhere. Nice post.
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Thank you, I like seeing all the different weather around in the blogs just now.
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Wow you’re way ahead of us in the UK! The crocus are out and some early (non native) daffs, but it still feels pretty wintery yet. Lovely blue skies for a change though. 🙂
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We’ve got the blue skies and it is only 10-12 degrees but the sunshine here is so strong, so different from the UK.
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The snowdrops and cyclamen make a lovely combination. Great photos, as always.
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Thank you, I have just started to plant down by the trees these past couple of years and the cyclamen are doing well. I am trying to naturalise some bulbs that will lie dormant under the trees in the summer and come out in spring. I’ve still got a lot of ivy to shift though.
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OH! LUCKY! LUCKY! YOU! We won’t see any of this until April or May!
Linda
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Butterflies! I am surprised! Your crocus are adorable. And I love the sweet little bees. I know they’re happy to see spring starting to emerge!
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I don’t think can be any happier than I am!
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It’s nice to see all of those spring flowers-I can’t wait for it to happen here. I’ve never seen cyclamen grown in the soil before. Here it is used as a fall / winter houseplant and then thrown away by most.
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I think they are a different kind of cyclamen. The house plant ones have larger leaves and flowers. These ones are much smaller but really tough cookies and go dormant in the dry soil during the summer. They give good ground cover when established.
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The first bees and butterflies I’ve seen this year. So Spring really does exist?
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It’s true. I hope it will be coming your way very soon. We had lunch outside today, it was lovely in the sun. We make the best of it before the next cold spell hits us.
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Gorgeous crocuses, I am so jealous of your garden. About the bees – they can forage for pollen at 8 degrees centigrade. For nectar foraging they need slightly higher temps of around 12 degrees upwards, though I think that’s mainly because most plants only produce nectar during warmer weather. They can raise their body temperature to be higher than the surrounding air around them. Bumble bees are even hardier than honey bees and can forage at lower temperatures; I’ve seen them busily foraging away during rain showers.
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Thanks Emily, that explains things for me. I did not realise they would forage for pollen at lower temperatures than for nectar but it makes sense and it corroborates what I’ve seen.
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This is amazing! What a great variety of color and types of both flowers and insects. Your seasons must be about 4 months ahead of ours.
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As much as that? For the insects I think they are used to making the most of the good spells and going quiet again when the cold returns.
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