There are winners and losers during our frosty springs
More frost this morning. And more forecast the next day, too. As I cast my eye over the crystalline wonderland of my garden I think of all the seeds scattered and flowers I’ve carefully planted over the past few weeks.
I did so seized by the primitive urge of hope and renewal that spring incurs. How many of these fledgling shoots will actually live to see it through the season?
The extreme variations of the past few days must make it a tumultuous time for plants. Glorious blue skies during the day then at night temperatures have plunged to below freezing in parts.
Tricky, yes, and no doubt devastating for my garden wild flower plans – but these oscillating days have led to some beautiful displays as trees cling on to their blossom and flowers wilfully bloom even if it is to encounter a nocturnal nip in the bud.
By day I have counted dandelion sprays, watched courting dunnocks dancing on the branches of a hydrangea and orange-tip butterflies sailing over a woodland verge.
At night it is another log on the fire and trying not to worry about my newly planted Sweet Williams that look rougher with every sunrise.
It may feel late to be experiencing such hard frosts, but it is worth remembering that on average across Britain there remain 33 days of ground frost in any given spring, sometimes stretching into mid-may. It is not uncommon for grass frosts to occur even later.
2014 brought the lowest number of spring frosts ever, with a mere 23 days recorded. 1984 was the frostiest spring recorded since 1961, with 47 frost days.
After the record-breaking February warmth this year it is cheering to feel some cold in the air. For frost has redemptive qualities, too: disrupting pest and disease cycles and improving soil structure. I shall tell myself this tomorrow morning as I cast an eye out and see another wave of blooms lost to Jack Frost’s unrelenting grip.