On 2010-01-01 17:52:39 +0000, K said:

Too early to draw any conclusions, but I'm getting a distinct
impression here ...

It seems that the 'down south' gardens are doing really quite badly.
Mine's bad, but in terms of numbers of species in flower, I think have
more than anyone except Sacha (and that's a large 'plantsman's'
garden). So, instead of what I was expecting - producing a pathetic
list to put alongside everyone else's long list of exotics - my garden
is in fact holding its own ;-)

I think it's so interesting to see what's going on all over the place,
really. This is a 3 acre garden which to some is large and to others
is merely a starter plot! But what we have in flower in the garden now
are not 'plantsman's' plants, I think. Maybe the fishtail Camellia is
unusual but it's still a Camellia. Everything else is pretty standard
fare, I think. I haven't counted anything at all in the greenhouses,
btw, only planted in our own garden.

.. so - is it that this winter is a good deal colder than normal down
south, and therefore things have been hit quite badly? Whereas up here,
it's only marginally colder than normal, and we already plant for this
sort of weather, so we haven't been hit quite so badly?

I think that could well be the case. It's been a lot colder a lot earlier here.


--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon