Do we want a cold winter?

In London we try and grow a lot of borderline hardy plants because we want a taste of the exotic. In my own garden I have an Echium pininana( Hardy to about -5 degrees centigrade) which I was sure would make it once we got to late February. Now it is covered in snow and obviously not at all happy I am not so sure. It is too late for fleece and anyway it’s much too big for any easily assembled way of keeping out the cold.

Obviously, from that point of view you do not want cold weather because these exotic plants don’t like. But there are many temperate plants that prefer the cold weather such as the rose or apple tree which both need a period of cold( vernalization) to flower and fruit well.

Also, Insects do much better when the cold weather is not too severe because this means more of them survive the winter. Indeed, when you get mild Decembers, as we have done in recent years, pests are able to complete another lifecycle. Of course this means more pest damage which is obviously not good.

So it’s a delicate balancing act. And there is no perfect solution. Rather like farmers: who always have something to complain about in regard to the weather, it is  similar for gardeners. We want some cold weather but not too much and some rain but not too much. And so the list of demands goes on in our search for the perfect season whilst we try to adapt to the circumstances of the existing one!