Once again the rainfall variations, little as they are, seem to depend on whether one caught a heavy shower, or not. When compared with Met Office averages it is interesting to note that the rainfall in January and February was above average and that in March and April was well below average (15% and 11% of av. respectively).

The Averages also show a total of 41 days of air frost during this period in 2010 whereas in 2011 there were only 16 frosty days. Total sunshine hours in the two years were almost identical but thinking of frost.There was a very vicious one here on the 4th May which caught a lot of new young growth luxuriating in the warm Spring sunshine. Plants in my garden that were affected include buddleia, mahonia, deutzia, hydrangea, vitis, laurus, fagus and buxus.

How Plants in our Region Fared Over This Period - Andrew Lawes

The long dry spell after the winters’ low temperatures seems to have suited some plants more than others. The daffodils and tulips seemed to come all at once again and, due to the long period without rain, were over and done with, the late flowering ones like the pheasants eye just not producing flower. Other bulbs, like the alliums seem to be thriving, A. schubertii here in its third year in my garden in Beccles, is putting on a wonderful show and over in Hempnall the tall ‘Purple Sensation’ is making a wonderful show interspersed with tall white ones and self seeded Hesperis matronalis and columbine, also self seeded. Shrubs that have appreciated these conditions are my variegated corokia which has had masses of tiny but perfumed yellow daisy flowers. In Hempnall Ribes speciosa is looking its best ever, the vivid red flowers dangling along each stem in such profusion it reminds me of the sort of tasselled frill that you would get on a Victorian table cover. The lilac has flowered early and roses trained against the house wall in Hempnall are already in flower. The weigelias here in my garden in Beccles are a mass of flower as is the white form of Dicentra spectabilis. The phormiums, however, have really suffered with many of the leaves dying as a result of the severe cold then the new growth being frazzled by the winds and the early hot dry conditions.