MILD WEATHER ISN?T ALWAYS A GOOD THING IN THE GARDEN

Living as I do on the west coast of the country the weather is somewhat different from the rest of the island. Ireland is an island, albeit a fairly large one. The winters are never too severe because of the influence of the Gulf Stream and the summers can be much warmer that the rest of the country. Some people might think that such weather conditions would be an advantage when growing plants. Well! Depends on what plants you want to grow. The lack of frost is a godsend for tender plants but most of them do not like the extra wet and humidity that comes instead of frost.

Alpines, which are my thing at the moment, do not like the mild winters either and would prefer frost and snow. In their homeland most of them go to sleep for the winter usually under a blanket of snow and are quite snug until the snow melts. They are not used to get drenched almost every day for months at a time. Those that do not get snow have hard frost that keeps them dormant until suitable weather conditions arrive in the springtime.

My alpines get lots of confusing weather conditions, such as mild spells when it should be cold, lots of water when it should be dry, poor light conditions when it should bright, not to mention being lulled into a false spring, only to wakeup and discover that winter is still with us, and it is about to be punished for the early rise from the slumber.

Even when covered with glass they still have to endure the high humidity and poor light conditions which makes growing some of them in character a difficult task indeed. Cushion plants are almost impossible to get beyond a 6inch pot. before collapsing in mush, even with the most sophisticated air conditioning equipment.

The Mediterranean bulbs don?t much like it either because the rain usually comes at the wrong time. Just when they are going to sleep for the summer they get a long spell or humid wet weather that can cause them to rot. Other Mediterranean plants like warm dry summers with occasional spells of rain. Here they usually get long spells of humid wet weather in the summer, and if not provided with adequate drainage quickly succumb

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