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At the risk of hearing a collective groan........

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  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    I have said this on other threads, but this winters snow was very wet, partly thawed, then froze hard. This killed a lot of plants including at the trials  at RHS  Wisley,  and where I volunteer in North London as well as in domestic gardens. My thought is that we mustn't beat ourselves up over losses this year,  if it happened to the professionals too, nothing we can do.  Take new opportunities as they arise. 
    AB Still learning

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited May 2023
    I am showing my age, but thirty years ago Agapanthus/ phormiums/cordylines/ salvias were rarely grown as they did not come through the winter. You did see Hebes and Ceonothus, that was in the days when every other garden seemed to grow them. One cold winter saw the end of every Ceonothus local to me.
    Last winter we had weather similar to all those years ago. I am not at all suprised that so many plants were lost. Most from the southern hemisphere so not really a suprise.

    @Allotment Boy mentions take new opportunities. I have never lamented the loss of a plant, the space it creates is an opportunity to improve the garden with something else and change the look and mood. 
    For me the GC's can keep all those Hebes they have filled their shelves with, they have no interest in what happens next winter other than an opportunity to sell more plants that are not always mentioned as frost tender. Think outside the box we can grow so many amazing plants in the UK. As gardeners we need to take care how we spend our money a little research can go a long way.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • adamadamantadamadamant Posts: 278
    I'm the same KT53 and we are in a relatively mild part of the country.  All of my salvias are also  gone - Embers Wish, Amistad and Black and Blue, even my microphyllas have copped it. I should have taken cuttings but hindsight is a wonderful thing.  Replacing these plants isnt cheap!   Onwards and upwards.  

  • adamadamantadamadamant Posts: 278
    Gardener Suze I wrote my thread before yours appeared on my page.  Actually you're quite right dont lament! But we do need to consider more carefully what plants to buy and do our research. I had a beautiful Crown Princess Margareta rose from DA which failed spectacularly last year and I took it out.  Because it was the perfect size/shape/habit for the spot it was in I decided to wait a year then put in a new one. However DA have on their website that they no longer supply it because it is not able to cope with the new climate extremes. I hadnt seen that before. 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited May 2023
    @adamadamant I would have contacted DA regarding your rose, their customer service is very good. They  always want to know which plants are failing, that adds to their knowledge. An interesting subject you mention regarding coping with the climate, I would have thought roses are tough but they are a big subject. 

    Garden Centres do have a refund policy but it does seem to vary. Some plants even have a guarantee when you purchase but I am not sure many gardeners take it up. Perhaps they think it is thier own fault a plant is failing. We think twice before other purchases but heart can rule head with a beautiful plant. That is an expensive way to garden.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I don't think Chamaerops are  bombproof. I can't see them surviving any year in Ballater. They'd struggle here without protection, let alone further north and west.  :)
    Wet then freezing is always difficult for plants. 
    The only things I've lost are potted Phormiums. The one in the raised bed has started to come away again, thankfully.  I only grow plants which can cope here in almost any winter. This year has been a little tougher because of the mild autumn which allowed growth in plants that wouldn't normally occur. That was subsequently affected by the sudden drop in temp, rather than a more gradual one. Other than that, the winter here has actually been mild again. 

    We're all going to have to accept that the weather will see more irregularity - not just more heat/cold/wet/dry. It's those irregular patterns that are more difficult to deal with. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • adamadamantadamadamant Posts: 278
    Gardener Suze I did get in touch with DA when it started failing to get some advice and they were great I have to say. But I expect my problem was one in a catalogue of queries they received which prompted them to retire it. I have planted Bathsheba and hoping for the best! 
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    I would have given up on Rhododendrons and Azaleas if I had taken note of the advice everybody was given in 1976.  My garden and my life would have been the poorer.

    Some of the pre- and post-1976 plantings are still with me.  Honey Fungus, not the heat, took many.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    It's too soon to be sure but at the moment it's looking like I have surprisingly few losses. Not all of the salvias are showing signs of regrowth (Amistad and Phyllis Fancy aren't, but Amante, Black & Bloom and most of the shrubby ones are). Penstemons kept some green all winter and are growing madly, some dahlias left in the ground are putting up shoots. I don't grow the spiky stuff, and I only have one hebe, an old variety "Autumn Glory" and that's fine.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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