RE: Snow in England

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Ah Richard, that is as unpredictable as the weather itself. There are some general pointers however. Firstly, as we tell clients who complain every spring that they have lost their taragon, it is the wet rather than the cold that finishes so many Mediterranean plants. In fact we normally have greater problems with those North Americans that in their native conditions would doze the Winter away under a nice warm blanket of snow and can’t stand being blasted by icy air without protection.

 

Secondly sustained cold  that can creep down to the root zone is more destructive than intermittent but more intense cold which normally gives an opportunity for the top layer to thaw. Plants in pots whose roots are protected from the atmosphere by no more than a thin layer of plastic are specially vulnerable.  

 

Most of our plants are in tunnels, not so much because of the cold, but because the deer eat them outside. Possibly therefore it is summer heat that does more damage than the winter cold. Looking out of the window this morning though, I am not optimistic and which is why I am writing this now instead of trudging through the frost. Actually the Lemon Verbena and African Blue Basil were looking comparatively happy yesterday afternoon, though the ginger and Salvia leucantha weren’t. Roll on April

 

Anthony

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu] On Behalf Of RStarkeson@jschlesinger.com
Sent: 27 November 2005 20:22
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Snow in England