South West England National Trust Gardens Cold Shock

16th February, 2009

Gardens famed for their early spring flowers in the south west of England have been hit hard by some of the coldest weather for more than a decade. The annual National Trust spring flower count [1] , which takes place in Devon and Cornwall, is 60 per cent down on plants in flower compared with 2008 figures, and some gardeners are reporting loss and damage to more than half of their gardens [2].
 
The spring flower count has been conducted by National Trust gardeners and volunteers around Valentine’s Day every year since 2006 to provide an annual snapshot of how changes in the weather affect early spring flowers. The gardens in the south west – particularly Cornwall – are able to grow many tender plants due to the mild year-round climate.

Ian Wright, National Trust Gardens Advisor for Devon and Cornwall explained: “We’ve seen the coldest weather in the south west for more than a decade and it’s thrown up a real contrast between the two counties. Cornish gardens, with their tender southern hemisphere and Mediterranean species, have been hit particularly hard by severe frost and some of the gardens in Devon have seen heavy snowfall damage on many trees and shrubs. Our gardeners have undertaken a massive clear up operation to be ready for opening this spring and some have reported that up to 60 per cent of the plants in their gardens have been damaged by the snow.”

During the last decade there has been a trend for warmer, wetter winters, with the south west especially experiencing earlier and earlier spring blooms. However, this year the gardens are expected to come into flower a bit later.

Ian Wright continued: “It’s not all doom and gloom. Our gardens are already beginning to recover – nature recovers very quickly – and the good news is that many of the traditional spring flowers such as camellias, magnolias, snowdrops and daffodils are doing fine. We expect that this year spring is just going to come to our gardens a little bit later than it has done over the last few years.”

“As the climate continues to change we’re likely to experience warmer and wetter winters, but we will occasionally be hit by an extremely cold snap like the one we’ve just had and we will need to do the best we can to prepare for these heavy frosts and snow.”

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