Rotten forecast for fruit

I'm trying to get a balance of Good News and Bad News, and failing at the moment!!:( Anyway, here's another extract from the Amateur Gardening Magazine:

Fruit trees may bear crops of tiddlers this year, due to the mild Winter. Hardy fruit plants need a period of cold to encourage flowering with Cherries, Blackcurrants, and some Apple Culitivars requiring a sustained bill chill. But, unlike the Arctic Winter of 2010/2011, much of the UK experienced a mild Winter, with Southern regions subjected only to a handful of frosts.

Gardeners are also being warned that plants are growing earlier than normal and may flower prematurely. This puts them at risk of frost damage if the UK experiences colds nights in April or May.

RHS Fruit and Trials Specilaist Jim Arbury said he noticed that Autumn fruiting raspberries were already in flower. "This should be a problem as the canes will be cut to ground level in February. More worrying is that our Blackberry "Silvan" is flowering and is likely to have a reduced crop." he said. Jim urged Gardeners with just one or two fruit bushes to cover them with fleece or an old curtain if frost was due. He summed up "Changing weather conditions are a challenge for gardening. No matter how much we tend plants and control pests we are still dependent on the weather for abundant crops". Last year's cold Winter and warm Spring was perfect for encouraging abundant crops."



You have been warned!!!!!!:D

 

Sorry, Kiddo, you know I you:D

 

I have tried, honestly, Harry, to get some good news but have failed miserably so far this week. Plus I've got one more Bad News extract to come.................which makes me hesitate to print it because as I said in another Thread I don't want to become known as the "Portender of Doom"..............but print and be damned seems to be motto:D

 

:runhills::runhills::runhills:

 

What does C of E mean, Harry?............Cynical of Everything?:D