Winter Survivors' (?) Report

This is painful. I deserve a medal for bravery. Luckily you can't see
my tears... OK: here goes.

This has been the coldest winter on the UK West Coast, at least in the
far north of it, since we've been here - viz. 15 years. Not the
coldest in terms of single minimum temperatures (95/96 had a couple of
nights which were much, much colder than anything 00/01 has thrown at
us) but coldest in terms of the number of nights of frost and coldest
in terms of the unbroken length of the cold. Even in this walled
garden right by the sea, we got down to -5C on two nights. More
importantly, the cold went on for weeks, with frosts of -2C or -3C
every night and temperatures barely getting above freezing during the
day, so the soil never really unfroze. And this long cold period
brought home to me more clearly than ever before yet another
disadvantage of walled gardens: as with wind, so with cold - ok, so
the walls do help to keep it out - but once the darned stuff is
inside, they also help to keep it in. After that major cold spell, we
had the classic double whammy of a mild wet spring-like 10 days or so
- which has now been followed by yet more cold and frost. (Magnificent
hill-walking weather by day - cold but bright and blue and sunny; real
tear-shedders for the plant-lover come morning, though.)

As a result, many, many deaths. You don't want a catalogue of them
all, do you? You wouldn't be so sadistic... 

But just a few samples, to give you the idea: every prostanthera
except P. cuneata; a treasured Hibbertia scandens; every solanum
except S. jasminoides and S. crispum; several of the more tender
olearias, including all the colour forms of O. phlogopappa but not the
white one, and (damn!) O. obcordata; several of the more tender hebes,
including H. bollonsii (double damn!); most of the melaleucas, except
M. squarrosa; most of the more tender callistemons; all of the
isoplexis; all of the Canary Is. echiums; and a good many previously
flourishing young specimens of various leptospermum species. And, as
David Field said, there's still the death toll among the bulbs to be
revealed over the coming weeks...

On the other hand, let's be cheerful, there were also some slightly
unexpected survivors. Well, there are 'as of this writing.' I don't
kid myself that winter has necessarily finished with us yet. For
example, Polylepis australis, untouched; Weinmannia racemosa,
untouched; several tender-ish rhododendrons, such as 'Fragrantissima,'
untouched; Agapetes serpens, only slightly damaged; and both Iris
confusa and, even more surprisingly, Iris wattii show not even any
leaf damage, let alone anything more substantial.

And of course - I tell myself sternly - this tiny garden was absurdly
over-crowded anyway. *Now* I can try all sorts of new plants... - and
try to plant them more intelligently and aesthetically... - and...:
and what was the name of that white-trumpet-flowered climber of which
you had spare seed, David?!

Tim, bloodied but unbowed
on the coast of the Solway Firth, Cumbria, UK
'average winter minimum, -1C for a night or two' !!!
Tim Longville
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