big freeze

There cannot be much gardening getting done around the UK with the present 'big freeze' weather conditions. My garden is under snow and I notice that the camellia trees, which were in healthy bud before Christmas and indeed in years past have flowered at Christmas, are not showing any signs of bursting forth. There is a danger that the arctic climate and heavy frosts may indeed damage budes on trees such as camellias so we will have to see when and if they flower this year at all.

The RHS has announced that new the new sponsor for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is to be M&G (leading UK investment firm). It's good to know that they have found a new sponsor in the present economic climate. Several big names are already lined up for the 2010 show including Diarmuid Gavin, Tom Stuart-Smith and Robert Myers. It will also be interesting to see how many gardens the show hosts this year. Last year saw a reduction in the number of both large and smaller show gardens. However, one good piece of news is that Flemings, the Australian nursery, are back for 2010 - they always bring a touch of sunshine to Chelsea.

We are busy reworking the main website which will now be hosted on www.recklessgardener.com

This will take some time but hopefully before the summer really gets into swing we will be virtually back to normal. The website will look different but will contain all the elements of our original site.

The spread of sudden oak death seems to be getting worse. Conifers have now been hit by the disease for the first time - Japanese larch and Western hemlock, along with beech, birch and oaks, have been found with the pathogen.

Remember during the cold weather to feed the birds and provide some fresh water (which you can keep from freezing completely by putting a floating object or twigs on the top). Now is the time to put up new nest boxes (nest box week is 14th to 21st February).

Not much work getting done in the garden at the moment (well I can't really see it for the snow etc) but hopefully when spring finally does arrive we don't find that we have lost too many plants. This winter has been so severe there are bound to be several varieties of plants in our gardens which basically won't make it. Perhaps if we had the added protection of a nice warm furry coat like our friend here we might feel more like getting out and clearing the snow! He looked very happy anyway when I took this picture.