Planting seasons:
When reading gardening magazines, books, plant labels or the back of seed packets, it's sometimes difficult to decide when a 'garden season' starts and finishes. Below is a guide to which calender month, relates to which season. These all begin on the first of the month, so 'Early spring' starts on March 1st etc.
| Month | 'Garden season' | Season |
|---|---|---|
| March | Early spring | Spring |
| April | Mid-spring | |
| May | Late spring | |
| June | Early summer | Summer |
| July | Mid-summer | |
| August | Late summer | |
| September | Early autumn | Autumn |
| October | Mid-autumn | |
| November | Late autumn | |
| December | Early winter | Winter |
| January | Mid-winter | |
| February | Late winter |
Meteorologically, a season starts on the first of the month, for example, winter starts on December 1st, spring on March 1st etc.
Astronomically, the seasons change on the equinox or the solstice (both of which vary by a day or two depending on the year). Spring starts on the spring equinox (around the 20th of March), summer starts on the summer solstice (20th or 21st June), autumn on the autumn equinox (around 23rd September) and winter on the winter solstice, (21st or 22nd December).
British Summer Time and Greenwich Mean Time:
First introduced in the UK in 1916. We switch to British Summer Time (BST) on the last Sunday of March, putting the clocks forward an hour. BST ends on the last Sunday of October, when we put the clocks back an hour and revert to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
