Noticing the birds in the garden on New Year's Day, I was reminded of the annual "bird counts" done around the country (and I suppose in other countries too). What is flowering in your garden this New Year weekend? If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, plenty! However, we northerners have sparser resources, at least those of us without heated greenhouses or subtropical climates. Just looking at the open garden, where the paths crunch with the year's very first hard frost, I find Galanthus cultivars (especially 'Dionysus'), Cyclamen coum, Cyclamen trochopteranthum (and the possibly distinct Cyclamen alpinum), and some winter shrubs (Chimonanthus praecox, Jasminum nudiflorum, various Camellias, Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn', and rosemary). In the bulb house, which has a solid roof but open mesh sides, only Narcissus cantabricus and a few of its hybrids, a tiny white Colchicum (species unknown), and Sternbergia fischeriana. I expect our correspondents in California can list dozens of bulbs, and our correspondents in Minnesota may not like to read about it. All over the world, this is an unusual year, warm and drenched for many of us. Most of us in the Pacific Northwest live in hilly country where we're safe from floods. I hope our friends in the US Midwest, where hills are not so common, are safe too; and how are you doing in England? Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA