What summer? I'd like to skip over autumn and winter and end up in early spring, please! ;-) I love spring.

My next Favourite Season Spritz. Strange sequence I have going on...Autumn, Spring, Winter then Summer for me.

Spring - April and May particularly. And I loathe autumn because I see it as a harbinger of months of darkness and cold... and yet strangely, I don't mind the winter too much once it actually arrives.
Least favourite month -NOVEMBER, ugh...

Spring definitely because of all the evidence of what is to come and rebirth in a way. Longer days, warmer temps, arrival of birds, spring cleaning sloughing off dirt, laundry hung to dry on the line, fresh scents, more time to spend outdoors and of course planning and wanting during that 1st visit to the garden centre :):)

I love winter for Christmas and it's when I do my decorating but early Spring is definitely my fave for gardening.

Lil It was your beautiful Grass Pic that reminded me of October.

Bamboo, I entirely agree with you. I don't like November, either. Definitely a month to get through as fast as possible! May is my favourite month of all, too.

For me Its Autumn just love it, lovely leaf colours, misty dewy mornings, dew drenched cobwebs, the wrens noisely flitting through the hedge rows, tangerine sunsets, the falling leaves, naked branches in the twighlight, the blowing wind, shuffleling through the leaves, toadstools in abundance, crows distantly flying across the twighlight sky, acorns, fruit hanging and falling, conkers scattered amongst the silver dew, ahh just love it.

Sounds fab, Julien - but I'm one of those people who's always looking up the road to see what's coming next, so I'm probably denying myself the simple pleasure of the now.

Bamboo....Read what Julien said again and feel it.

Autumn is Glorious .

Yes - but I do so hate the drawing in of the evenings, noticeable by end of August.

In the Autumn i always make a point of walking through the countryside near to where i worked on the Farm, brings back lovely memmories of the farm, i always go and sit beneath an ageing oak, in the middle of nowhere, fields as far as the eye can see, as a young 17 year old i would often sit under that tree eating my honey sanwiches at lunchtime during the haymaking time, with flossy the border collie, she was my faithfull friend, just me and floss beneath the oak with not a care in the world, i would walk flossy across the fields in the autumn and sit beneath the oak, watching the day slwly fade, it was quite funny, i had to take two lunchboxes with me for floss loved honey sandwiches, special days.

November's great for sunsets too. The month I find the most trying is February. Here it's very drizzly and grey - I look out of the bedroom window and can't imagine the scene with the rain turned off, and the sunshine turned on. Probably be even worse next February as we had very little sun this summer.

My fave season - spring - gotta just love all those little bulbs popping up (what the squirrels have left us) and the buds getting ready to open. :-)

How lovely Julien to be able to sit somewhere you did when you were young - I don't live anywhere near where I started out, so not possible for me.
And Beattie, I know what you mean about February - my second least favourite month has to be January, it always seems interminably long - but the good thing about February is, some years we get a mild, sunny one, and even if we don't, it's only 28 days! Passes in a heartbeat these days for me...

Hi Bamboo, do you have any special places, where you would sit in quite contemplation when you were young and if you did and went back then it gives you such a lift, sitting beneath the oak does this for me, but tinged with sadness sometimes, i remember going into the farm one day and floss was nowhere, she always greeted me on my arrival but not this day, she was an ageing dog, and farmers being farmers, smithy did not have a warm heart, i found floss shot dead in the milling shed, it was incredibly tough to see.

OOh, I'm wincing here Julien. To answer the question, no, not really - I don't think I was the quietly contemplative type when I was young, and after all, I lived in south east London in a very built up area, unlike you in the country.

I was also brought up in a built up area here in derby, but i suppose i was fortunate that i worked on a farm, it was hard graft, but such a joy.

I'll settle for permanent summer!

Spring! Everything's so new and green and all sorts of little surprises are popping up in the garden. It's so exciting!

I welcome spring. When the garden reawakens after what seems a very long dreary winter. I too hate November. A month of short days and larger heating bills. Autumn in the garden is hard work, damp leaves, old overgrown plants to clear away and bulbs to plant. Clearing out a lot of pots and so much tidying up to do, followed by nothing in particular to bring excitement and anticipation.

Right, that's it, get out the razor blade and the Radiohead CD (music to commit suicide to), thanks for painting a picture of exactly how I feel, Dorjac, lol! Course, it's not so bad if you look forward to Christmas...

Radiohead is not music to commit suicide to! I reserve that description for anything that comes out of shows such as the X factor!!!!!

Check this out............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z_NvVMUcG8&feature=related

At 3mins 40ish it positively soars (by Radiohead standards)!
You'll be saying that Nick Cave & Leonard Cohen are depressing next!!!!!!!!!

All I can tell you is that my eldest son, who was inclined to be a gloomy so and so as a teenager, would shut himself in his bedroom and play either Radiohead The Bends or, an even worse sign, Tubular Bells - and my other son would appear and say, oh no, he's playing his 'I'm totally depressed' music again, lol! It always meant he'd be in there for at least 4 hours - a great relief to me, better than him groaning and moaning about downstairs. He got over it... And that particular album used to be widely known as music to slit your throat to... I seem to recall reading a review of it that said it should come complete with razor blade... Favourite track? Fake Plastic Trees is mine...

What exceptional taste you have Bamboo!!!!!!

Now, I don't know whether you're taking the proverbial or whether you mean that, Meanie, lol!

Fake Plastic Trees is one of my ten favourite tracks Bamboo! It's also the standout moment of their live performances too.

Oh, okay then - but I have to tell you I'm not a major fan of Radiohead (I'm ducking now...)

But....You both grow fantastic plants, maybe plants like Radiohead respond to them positively.... And it has been over 21 degrees here and bright sunshine..Blooming weather

My houseplants are fantastic, it has to be said, I've never lived anywhere where they grow so well - but frankly, it won't be music making them do that, I rarely play stuff now other than Sigur Rose or Massive Attack... gettin' old... Thanks for the compliment though, Pimpernel. Must be miserable everywhere that we're talking about music and not plants - its dull, dank and gloomy here, cold indoors, warm outside.

Yes, but what music!
7th July 2001, South Park Oxford - Radiohead returned to Oxford with a huge open air gig. Amongst the support was Humphrey Littleton and Sigur Ros!
By the end of Radioheads set it was peeing down and the water got into some of the synthesisers - no problem, change the set and play Creep live for the first time in years.
Best gig ever!

This was the day that I discovered Sigur Ros - seen them twice live since. This is one of the finest live tracks that I've ever seen................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQsPv4FMyLg&feature=related

This absolutely explodes at 11mins 40secs!

Thank you Meanie for the introduction to Sigur Ros.

Pimpernel - I just sent you a PM with a further link that may interest you.

How lovely to hear someone else has a soft spot for Thom and his band! I only ever went once to a live performance where you HAVE to stand up - seats removed - where I could behave like a teenager(a re-cycled one!). That was when Radiohead came to Cardiff in (I think) 2003. WON...DER...FUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll never forget it! Luuuuuuurve OK Computer - "No Surprises." I used to be taken by my Dad to see Humphrey Lyttelton at our local Town Hall so it was EXTRA-special when I saw that Thom respected his music as well! Oh - this is a gardening site. How did this happen? ;o)

Nariz - because gardens and music go hand in hand.....
Humph and the band played on Radioheads Amnesiac album.

Also, having recently discovered that Bamboo is female my mental image changed - it's now shifted even more now that I've read about some of her musical tastes.

Wow! Sigur Rós! What a fantastic link you gave us Meanie! Thanks from me too. I've never seen a guitar being bowed before. :-)
I gave Radiohead another try with the links and titles you both gave, but, sorry, no, they're just not my cup of tea. Deffo "music to cut your throat to".

I'm enjoying getting to know the new album from my faves, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Hmm, interesting - a shift in your perception, ay? Let's shift it a bit more then, lol - other big time favourites are anything electronic - Death in Vegas, Leftfield, Crystal Meth - and an old, old favourite still played often - Cocteau Twins. And these days a few Chase and Status tracks... doppler shift again?;-)))
But anyone who doesn't know about Sigur Ros yet is in for a real treat - amazing stuff, full of majesty, very moving, takes my breath away and brings tears to the eye...

Here's a band to check out through the winter (that's how we got here) - Explosions in the Sky. This track would be great for a bright spring morning though.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0o8JCxjjpM

I hate November
No birds,no bees,no flowers,no trees NOVEMBER
Plus exploding fireworks scaring my dogs to death Must be getting old !!!!

And you forgot the other horrible thing November is famous for - FOG! I wish I could hibernate...

How civilised, they wait until November before lighting fireworks in West Yorkshire ? You are not getting old, the things are damn nuisance.

I manage to get back to Britain a couple of times a year and my next trip takes in Guy Fawkes Night! Yaaaaaay! Haven't seen live fireworks since 2007 - the Inner Child is getting quite excited! Although I do remember my childhood friend - a German Shepherd - trying to cram himself into the smallest spaces indoors on many 5ths of November while also trying to retain his dignity! Large dog under a sideboard is a funny sight!

Nariz, as Pimpernel implies, fireworks are now commonplace year round - I live on the 3rd floor with quite a vista all around, and I must see a firework display every month of the year - and obviously for Diwali and Bonfire Night and New Year, excessive amounts.

Yes, it always seems a shame that the 'speciality' and wonderment of such celebrations are used so freely for no apparent reason. Another reason to love where we live now - Christmas starts at the beginning of December - not while school uniforms are still on display; New Year passes with families celebrating together; Easter is still a mainly religious festival with churches crammed to the rafters and not a chocolate egg to be seen; Hallowe'en is a time for remembering those who have passed on and All Saints Day a day for celebrating the continuance of life - not a time for hoardes of children to swarm around the neighbourhood begging sweets. Everything's just been overdone! :o(

It is the noise not the firework I object to.