January 2022 started with three warm days and nights where even the night minimum temperatures were ≥ 8oC, well above the average day/night temperature (4.3 oC) for Hereford in the month of January.
As I write this post (18/1/22), we have had a week of subzero night temperatures and average day/night temperatures of about 1 oC.
The garden plants have survived remarkably well. Following a -4 oC overnight temperature, the daffodils looked a little sad...
...but soon recovered in the afternoon sun.
I was a little more concerned about the snowdrops, in spite of their hardy nature, as the first flower of 2022 lay prone across a nearby stone...
Recovery took a little longer in the shady wood-in-the-garden but, by mid-afternoon, it was standing proud once again...
How do plants survive subzero temperatures? It may be a combination of factors but is mainly down to the presence of sugars and proteins in the plant sap which depresses the freezing point of water; in effect, they possess their own form of anti-freeze.
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