Last week I had the chance to get home early so I could move under shelter the frost sensitive plants we have still outside, as we were forecast some frost on the Thursday morning.
Well frosts did arrive and a thin layer of white crystals were all over the garden when I gave it a quick inspection in the morning. Alas I was in a rush to go to work so I wasn't able to take frosty photos but for a few moments I was able to take in the sights and take note of the distinctive scent of frozen vegetation in the air.
Fortunately the frosts didn't last long and they were all probably gone an hour or so after I've gone to work and the temperatures afterwards have been much milder.
So how did the garden react from the visit of jack frost?
Some got frazzled...
Some got the trigger to finally start shedding its leaves like the Kalopanax above...
And this Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' (which has grown well, not bad for a tree bought for £1).
Some look surprisingly unaffected by the frost despite looking like the sort that will mush at the faintest touch of it...
Whilst some continue to hang on to their leaves ignoring the frosty trigger.
Hopefully there won't be any visit from jack frost for quite some time after this, cross fingers!
Mark :-)
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
Many things have held up well in your garden despite Jack's visit! It's clear and cold here and lows just below freezing are predicted for the next couple of days. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteYikes indeed! But at least you have your new garage conversion to play in now Peter, and your plants looks comfy there :)
DeleteI wish the colder weather would ease itself in. We had some frosty mornings a couple of weeks ago, then back into the mild temps -- but hard freeze every night this week. I knew it couldn't last...
ReplyDeleteFrost photos are great fun -- try harder next time. ;)
Hard freeze every night, ouch! Hopefully it won't be as bad there as it sounds Alan. Although it is winter afterall...
DeleteWill try my best although I wouldn't mind if it didn't come back at all, ever...
I hope you a a mild winter for your nice garden!
ReplyDeletewhich is this variegated foliage on your last picture.
It's very nice. it look like a magnolia?
Thank you Antho, and you too! The variegated plant is Magnolia denudata 'McCrackens Variegate'
Deletecross fingers!!! It is always sad when plants start to notice the damage of frosts.
ReplyDeleteA bit sad at first Lisa, but then you get used to it and it's just the usual cycle. There's always spring to look forward to :)
DeleteI'm trying not to bite my nails over all the plants I added to my parents garden over the summer. I gave them a list of things to protect with the cold weather expected this week. Mild falls can often spell disaster for new and borderline plants when cold suddenly hits.
ReplyDeleteTrue Evan. A gradual descent into colder weather is often more ideal for plants to acclimatise and get themselves ready for cold weather hibernation. A sharp change can be very damaging.
DeleteWe hardly ever get frost but, when it happens, ugh! I too hope you're in for a mild winter.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kris, we hope so too :))
DeleteWe're getting a frost tonight, and I'm anxious to see what the garden looks like during and after. I hope both you and I have a mild winter.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, cross fingers!! :)
DeleteHopefully you'll have a long while before the next frost. I could definitely do without frost. I'm not the kind of guy who needs four distinct seasons to be happy :)
ReplyDeleteHope so Gerhard! Wouldn't mind if jack frost will never come back (or at least its visits are very few and very brief...).
DeleteTonight's the night around here. Most everything is tucked in, there are always those few that we hope can just thought it out. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Loree, hopefully it won't be that bad. Although the winds there seems intense at the moment but hopefully that will be over soon as well :)
DeleteTough that is, tough it out...
ReplyDeleteGot it :)
DeleteI am hoping you won't have a lot of these and us also. So far so good hereand thank goodness because we don't have the gazebo greenhouse put together. We better start thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteIndeed Candice, cross fingers! You'll get your gazebo greenhouse up eventually but hopefully it'll in a relaxed pace with no sense of urgency :)
DeleteAmazing that you've had frost there. Not a touch of it here, and I'd have thought we were generally colder. I keep waiting. Love those big leaves with the frost and, as you say, amazing they aren't mush now (is it a philodendron?). Goes to show.
ReplyDeleteI was rather impressed with the forecast as they were spot on and it has given us chance to prepare. But thankfully it was just one morning and the frost didn't linger Cathy. On occasions the southeast do get colder weather than northern parts of the UK but not very often at all, but such was the case last week. The plant is Zantedeschia 'White Giant', its hardiness is proving good and might be worth trying in your garden :)
DeleteThis will be me in about 2 days. Not sure which Zantedeschia you're growing but my 'White Giant' is surprisingly hardy; it can take a light frost with little or no damage, and doesn't go down until we get a hard freeze.
ReplyDeleteThe hardiness of White Giant and its resistance to light frosts still amazes me up to now John. Those leaves looks so sensitive to frosts but they aren't which is great :)
DeleteYou can certainly tell that Jack has been at work. It was so fortunate that you were able to leave work early to get the more sensitive plants under cover. Even with the best planning and preparation that first frost still has a habit of creeping up on you and catching you out. Still waiting for the first arrival of it here on the Mersey estuary :)
ReplyDeleteIndeed Anna, although the shifting of the more sensitive plants were rather last minute it didn't feel that hectic in the end, and there wasn't much to shift really. Hopefully jack won't visit for all of us for quite some time (even better if it didn't at all...).
DeleteLooks like the same conditions prevail on both sides of the pond. So much for the mild winter we were all hoping for.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the cold spell there won't last that long Ricki!
DeleteStill no frosts here, its disturbingly mild. I have 'Forest Pansy' envy...
ReplyDeleteOuch, does that plant in the second photo reshoot in spring? Or is winter the end of it?
ReplyDelete