This was the weather on 21st March! We don’t often get snow, but if we do it is most likely to be in January or March. We have some low tunnels that have plastic pipes as hoops and these are hopeless with snow so if you get a lot of snow metal hoops are the only option. Fortunately brushing furiously with a broom as the snow fell stopped the tunnels collapsing! And predictably it was only one snow fall.
Growing flowers in Scotland does require a bit of risk with the weather, but as anyone with experience of gardening will tell you, there is nothing as useful as knowing the microclimate for your own patch. I can be 2-3 weeks later in flowering than in places a few miles down the road, but I can also avoid frosts that might catch others. Growing to your strengths is never a bad thing, with a little experimenting on the side for fun. Basic manipulation of covers to protect from the worst of the elements can help immensely at this time of year and I was grateful for the greenhouse to shelter in from the hail recently. In general though I feel that spring this year is about a month ahead of last year, and certainly a month ahead of 2015 spring.
We are now in April, the flowers are here and we have started selling for the season so time to celebrate spring with flowers, including my new favourite daffodil – Replete.
