Frosty garden
I woke up this morning to the hardest frost of the winter so far but this was in stark contrast to the weather we’ve had the rest of the week here in Wales. A mild and sunny week tempted me out into the garden to tackle the dead foliage and seedheads that were starting to make the garden look a bit messy.
As I worked my way around the garden with my secateurs I could see the effects the mild winter has had. New buds and shoots were emerging all over the place. As I pulled out old Alchemilla foliage, patches of snowdrops appeared. Clumps of daffodils were discovered, along with the first signs of one of my favourite plants Dicentra spectabilis alba. A tiny blue flower had been encouraged to open on Pulmonaria ‘Blue Ensign’, there were shoots of Gladiolus communis byzanntinus and Nectaroscordum.
Gladiolus communis byzantinus shoots
Mmmmmm…. this all felt too early. Much as I am eager to see the first signs of growth I was looking at the plants and telling them it was too early. Do other people talk to their plants? I know Prince Charles does but it surely can’t just be me and His Royal Highness. Anyway perhaps I got carried away just like the plants and I should have waited a little longer to start the tidy up because some cold wintry weather has arrived and I’m now worried the plants will suffer. In effect I’ve taken away their duvet and then left them to fend for themselves.
Frosted sedum shoots
The early flowering plants will be fine. They have adapted to cope with the fluctuations in weather that happen as winter passes into spring. It is the later flowering plants that have been encouraged into early growth that I’m worried about. But as a gardener you just have to learn that there is little you can do about the weather and that plants are often tougher than we think. Some plants have proteins in their cells that act as antifreeze protecting them from harsh winter weather. And if I hadn’t tidied things up I would have missed out on these little beauties….
Sweet little snowdrops
wellywoman 
Hi,
I’m glad I haven’t yet touched the garden; the signs are all there but the temptation hasn’t yet taken hold of me!
Although, I am still concerned some of the plants have been damaged – I’ve new growth even on Clematis and they do seem to look ok, I just hope there aren’t many more hard frosts otherwise it’s likely that they too will suffer.
Still waiting here for our first frost, still hasn’t come here in Devon. We have tidied the shady half of the garden where all the snowdrops and hellebore are so that we can see them easily, but the sunny side gets left for a while yet so that any hungry wildlife can make the most of the seedheads. No, WW you and Prince Charles aren’t the only ones who talk to their plants, I do and I’m sure lots of others do too!!
How lovely to have snowdrops, I love them. I usually leave the tidying up as long as possible so plants are protected as they would be in nature, but it isn’t as wet here as with you so it doesn’t look too messy. Happy New Year, Christina
We had our first proper frost last night too. I’m wondering what effect it might have on all the plants which are flowering out of season. It’s been a funny year weather wise.
My worry is that all the mild weather will bring things on to early only to be knocked back by frost, the unpredictable weather of the last few years really seems to “confuse” a lot of plants.
It was almost a relief to see the frost this morning, hopefully kill off a few garden bugs and pests.
Like you, I had a fit of the ‘tidy-ups’ yesterday and removed the leaf duvet from around certain plants – but everything still seems ok on the sunnier side of the garden.
I find that the garden as a whole offers so many opportunities for conversations – though they tend to be very one-sided – I talk to the plants, the birds (especially the robin), my hens, our former pets in their graves and occasionally the neighbours.
The temptation to tidy up, even a little bit is always there. I didn’t get much done before the frost struck. I think Mr K at Gardening at the edge is saying “I told you so”… but it is good to see the snowdrop and hellebores.
I’m quite glad of the frost. Feel that the soil is getting a really good purge. And while I always fear that one of my floral infants won’t make it, I’m always secretly glad of the chance to nip to the nursery and justify a splurge.
I find that I need to tidy up now as otherwise there is just too much to do later on when the garden is really shifting up a gear. It’s finding a balance that works for you, I suppose.
Get the timing of any gardening task exactly right seems to be laced with risks. Hopefully the plants will cope with whatever our decidedly odd winter choses to throw at them. I talk to my plants too WW – you are not alone 🙂
Plenty of signs of new growth but I wonder how plants will fare in this somewhat roller-coaster weather! xx