Blowing away the frost

Frosty weather

The English winter is starting to resemble the English summer: not so much two days of sun and then a thunderstorm, as two days of frost and then more gales.  A few frosty nights and chilly days have given way to damp and murk, and today we are having the first blast of a storm which has blanketed the east coast of the US in snow.  We won't get any snow, just more rain and high winds.  Business as usual.


The frosts were hard enough not to clear in the shade, and even where the surface frost melted, the ground was still hard.  The tender plants are mostly all tucked up in the greenhouse, but the outdoor plants did look quite striking with the frost on them.  The end of last week and the weekend were very mild for January - I found a ladybird on one of the blackcurrant bushes.  Yesterday I pruned the big apple tree, trying to resist the temptation to cut away too much wood; taking out all the watershoots would just result in more of them, and I hope I've stayed the right side of the line this year! I also managed a little digging over of bits of the veg plot, and tied up the broad bean plants.  That should really have been done earlier, as the wind had flattened them and they were flagging in the frost.  They've since perked up nicely, although they're a little bent!  I hope their tops will straighten up now they're tied to their supports. Otherwise it hasn't really been weather for doing much outside.  The shallots have arrived, so planting them out will be a priority once the soil is workable again.

Geranium leaves

Viburnum davidii in the frost

The tits and sparrows have been enthusiastically enjoying the fatballs, getting through them at a great rate; they're now rationed, at least until the weather gets chilly again.