"Dave Hill" wrote in message
oups.com...
It has always struck me as strange that some young plants can take
frost, snow etc when only just emerged from the ground, whilst when
they are mature the first frost will kill them,
I am thinking of plants like sweet peas.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

It's presumably a biochemical response - not one I'd thought of before - so
thank you for giving me something else to ponder over :-)
It would appear than in spring, the cold response is to strengthen and slow
growth, while in autumn, the same stimuli promotes decay. I'm sure research
has been done on trees in the autumn to see what prompts leaf drop - i.e.
which set of chemicals.
Very interesting......
Chris S