First snow

 

Well, so much for my forecast, in the last post, of a little frost and maybe some sleet.  We woke up to a good inch (2.5cm) of wet snow, with temperatures that didn’t lift much above freezing for three days.  Then the wind changed to the south, temperatures rose to mid-teens and Storm Bert came in, with heavy rain (which cleared the snow) and high winds.  At the moment the forecast for the coming week is more typically Novemberish, with single-figure temperatures (but above freezing) and a mix of sun and rain.

The little red chrysanthemum has shrugged off the cold, but the more delicate flowers are falling fast.  The dahlias have been knocked back, and about time too; I need to take them out of their pots so that the tulip bulbs can go in there.  A few of the other more tender things in pots ought to be moved to the cold frame; that’s another job for this week.  

There’s not much to cut for the house at the moment, not until it’s time for the Christmas holly and ivy – but there were a few last decent flower spikes on the yellow antirrhinum in the greenhouse, which is blooming regardless of the fact that temperatures in there had dropped to zero, and they’re brightening up the porch.