The January Garden
The garden is looking very sorry for itself and it's still too soon to know which plants I have lost and which will recover. M advised against coming over to tidy it up as she feels it will be better to leave the plants alone and not stress them by cutting them back until after the threat of freezing weather has passed. February is supposed to be even colder so I doubt I'll see her much before March.
The frost hasn't cleared at all for the last few days and there's frozen water in a couple of the pots (see above photo) but at least the pots were emptied of plants before that happened.
The bulbs are sending up new growth in the blue pots and also in various places around the garden. They still have a lot of growing to do so still too early for their flowers.
The camellia (above) looks like it's given up for the year and the pieris (below) has plenty of buds which should be in flower by now but aren't, not that I blame the plant at all ... it's too cold for me too!
Oh, the garden does look rather sorry for itself! But, I'm sure the majority of the plants will revive very nicely once it warms up in the spring. How is the pomegranate doing?
ReplyDeleteIt's looking so sad at the moment. The single pomegranate fruit is still holding on but it doesn't look too good and I'm fairly sure it will have frozen along with the rest of the garden. I've left it alone but am not expecting it to grow into a full sized fruit now. xx
DeleteYour gardener is absolutely correct about not cutting back plants just yet. I know because I lost several plants that I had overwintered under cover by cutting them back too soon. I have lost many if my geraniums and fuschia plants this winter due to the very cold weather.
ReplyDeleteOh that's a shame to have lost your geraniums and fuchsias. I don't think my fuchsias have survived so will need to be replaced this year ... it could be an expensive time when the frost finish! xx
DeleteOne of my fancy terracotta pots cracked and broke as I had left it empty and it had filled with rain water which then froze. The one filled with compost is fine so lesson learned not to leave them empty. I think M is right to leave the plants alone and it's too cold to be outside anyway. Roll on Spring!
ReplyDeleteThat's a same about your terracotta pot ... they're not cheap are they? Thankfully my terracotta pots are filled and having cracked yet so fingers crossed that that doesn't change. Roll on Spring .... definitely! xx
DeleteYour garden looks like it holds many secrets soon to be revealed. January & maybe February will be months of patience & promise. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not very good at being patient though! I can see some new growth peeping through though so it's not all doom and gloom and will brighten up when the bulbs flower. xx
DeleteI've read that pruning is not recommended during winter. We had a couple of below zero temperature days this month, and I covered some of my tropical plants. One of my neighbors didn't cover their plants and now they all look brown. Plants are not used to cold weather here.
ReplyDeleteIt's a prolonged period of night frosts here and it's due to last through most of February as well, so any plant that survives that deserves to stay in the garden. I hope your tropical plants survives and that it soon warms up for you. xx
Deletesomehow to me.. the light! the light looks much warmer. No snow cloud in the sky. and no clear blue announcing deep cold, it all looks very nice to me, especially the bulbs coming up.
ReplyDeleteI think that's just because I lightened the photo as it was too dark to make out any detail. We don't often get snow in this area anyway but we are experiencing freezing frosts with temperature consistently down to -4ºc over night and highs of only up to 5ºc in the days. It's not the temperatures you are used to but it's very cold for this area. Thankfully the bulbs are appearing and giving some hope for warmer days. xx
DeleteI'm a bit concerned that the snow before Christmas and the recent frosts have finished off my bay bush. It's pretty old not and I do use it for cooking so, if it doesn't recover, I will be getting another one. A shame but there you go. xx
ReplyDeleteThat is a shame. I don't have much experience with bay bushes - I killed one and my second attempt was stolen - but I do hope yours recovers. xx
DeleteEven though it's a little sad looking I love seeing the new growth popping up. It gives me hope that it will be wonderful and colourful again this year. Looking forward to seeing the progress!
ReplyDeleteThere's enough new signs of growth to give me hope. Just get through February and March and I'll have more idea of what has survived. xx
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