What's going on?

It seems that every other thread recently has been about dead or sorry looking plants. Not just in particular areas either but all over. The complete decimation of cordylines has been particularly well documented, mine included.

The thing is, winter wasn't particularly bad! It's not as if we had freak -20°C temps or anything. I think a lot of gardeners are feeling a little demoralised at the minute.

 

Well it wasn't a bad winter if you were growing brussel sprouts but it was if you were growing borderline hardy plants.
A good amount of the plants people are buying at garden centres these days were considered tender 50yrs ago. You just need to look in old gardening books and cordylines were only possible in Cornwall and parts of the south coast.

So when we get just one week of OLD weather it all becomes evident how complacent we have all become.

 

I thought this article by the RHS about the impact on their own gardens was interesting: RHS winter plant damage survey – findings released. One section says:

Much of the damage we've seen after this brutal winter is likely to have resulted from the lack of acclimation. This is the process by which plants adjust to a change in their environment, such as winter cold. This year saw a prolonged wet and mild autumn and an early winter, with a sudden plunge to temperatures well below freezing.

This appears to be have been particularly extreme in the south and south east, with RHS Wisley, in Surrey, particularly badly affected. Here there were several consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures, with the garden reaching -10C and perhaps -12C in frost pockets.

 

I also wonder if, somehow, those absolute mad 40°C temps that many of us experienced last summer had some bearing on the situation too?

Maybe the "softies" temporarily thought they were in the Med, and the winter, although not too bad, completely caught them off guard!

 

Usually heat tends to make plants hardier IMO, it ripens the wood on many woody shrubs and tends to help to stop die back. Often why some plants will survive on a sunny wall and tend to struggle in the open ground.

There are a fair few plants that only grow well in warmer summer areas even though some of the cooler summer parts are often milder in winter.

Its a case of horses for courses.

 

Don't know about your area @Esoxlucius but it was very cold here in the run up to Christmas, we had a few continuous weeks at -7/8C...for here in the south that cold enough thank you!

 

Yes we went colder still for the odd nights but I was referring to a continuous cold snap @shiney

We lost a lot too, very sad.

 

Could possibly mean its dead.
My dead cordylines are now flowering, I think its some kind of survival mechanism while in their death throes.

It never got much below about minus 7c here as I remember, but it was the continuous frost of over a week below zero that I thought was bad, every night the frost went that bit deeper into any protection that you might have used.

 

If there's a widespread problem, I've not seen it here. But if there is, let's consider last summer instead of focusing on winter. And on soil rather than plants.

We had record breaking heat and widespread drought. Soil is not just minerals and decaying plant matter. It is also a whole ecosystem of worms, bugs, and micro organisms. What if the prolonged heat and drought upset that balance?

Ps I don't know anything you lot don't know. I'm just speculating.

 

We get silly temps and prolonged drought every year, Clue, but the soil fauna just tend to go down deeper, following the little moisture that is still present. Most (?) gardeners water to a greater or lesser extent, as well as mulching, so all in all, one hot, dry summer should be liveable-with?

 

The drought last summer would have stressed a lot of plants, then there was a relatively mild damp (down here) autumn, encouraging growth, and then a sudden cold snap. Normally autumn winds down getting cooler and plants gradually go dormant becoming more cold resistant as they do so. So a cold snap out of nowhere catches them "off guard" and does more damage.

 

It caught me off guard, I know that much.
Lots of soggy plants hurriedly brought under cover.
Apart from the cordylines I've not really had much killed outright in the garden.
I even left a couple of potted citrus plants out all winter, the top growth is all dead but its still showing green at the base when scratched.

 

As I've said before, I lost very little. The musa basjoo is only just showing signs of life so things are a bit slow to get going this year. Cordylines are bursting with flowers, non hardy(for everyone else) ferns are just unfurling croziers, palms are flowering up just now and even tulips are late. The only thing that survived totally unscathed and has reactivated on time are dandelions, and six billion snails

 

I've been throwing plants away today probably around 50 plants some tender or borderline and other supposedly hardy . I've been telling others / clients about the lack of acclimation is what's killed the plants or severely damaged them not just because it were cold , its been colder in recent years