“When we grow plants from all over the world, sudden drops in temperature can take them – and us – by surprise”
The nationwide cold snap in December 2022 reminded us that a lot of plants we’d come to regard as hardy were, in reality, not quite as tough as we thought. For a good decade and more we’d brought the likes of penstemons and shrubby salvias through winter out in the garden without a problem, but many gardeners lost the lot last winter.
Global warming isn’t a figment of our imagination, but it’s a mistake to forget that thing called ‘weather’ – even with overall rising temperatures, there’ll always be cold snaps that catch us out and remind us that when we grow plants from all over the world, sudden drops in temperature can take them – and us – by surprise.
I can still recall a 20-year
