SPRING TURNS COLD.

After a mild start March turned very cold with heavy frost most nights for the first two weeks Although days were dry and sunny the temperature was struggling to stay above freezing most of the time, add to that a wind chill factor of about -4º C and as you can imagine gardening was out of the question, except for those with a greenhouse. That is where I spent most of the time except for one very cold morning when I had to dig out all of the plants in the front garden that had overgrown their allotted space. As I mentioned before my front garden is undergoing a complete overhaul and I had arranged for my brother to call with the truck and collect all the large plants that I cannot accommodate any more. My brother operates a small landscape company and he will have no trouble finding a good home for larger plants of the dwarf forms of trees and shrubs. I have had some of these plants for over twenty-five years and was sad to see them go, but then gardening is about change from season to season and plants often have to be replaced when they get too big or do not fit in with the plan any more. My front garden is going to be completely redesigned with the scree beds all being replaced with raised beds, and maybe a small water feature. The drive will have to be enlarged by 18inches each side and a new pathway laid to the front door.

All the bulbs will have to be carefully marked with a suitable label for lifting when the foliage has died down and stored or potted until their new home is ready.

The cold weather gave me a chance to completely overhaul the alpine houses and get some sort of order about the place in time for spring flush of flowers. All the cyclamen were moved outside to cold frames as the constant sunny weather were causing the leaves to wilt and necessitated frequent watering, cyclamen do not like strong sunshine at this time of year and are looking much more contented since going outdoors. They will continue to grow for a longer period outside in the cooler temperatures and make larger tubers for next year. Left in the alpine house they would go into dormancy much earlier than they normally would.