We should now have seen the last of any frost for this spring. The forecast is for a couple of very warm days next Wednesday and Thursday before cooling down again to the average for late May. Up to date, it’s not been a particularly warm May with the average temperature 1.7°C below our 10 year average.
It’s been a difficult start to the gardening season with the lockdown due to Covid 19, exceptionally late spring frosts together with an almost complete lack of rain. At times it’s difficult to know if plants want a drink or they’re suffering from the cold weather.
The poor broad beans pictured above are an example. When the cold weather first arrived the beans were ready for planting out but they were kept at home until the first spell of cold weather was over. By that time they were a little bit on the leggy side and needed some supports to hold the plants upright. Since they were planted out they’ve had some warm days, frosty night, cold easterly winds and no rain. I’m almost tempted to pull them up and replant but I’ve nothing ready to take their place so I’ll leave them and see what happens. We do have some more broad beans to go in this bed but they are only just starting to germinate.
Anyhow, I’ve started moving plants around in an attempt to get more seeds sown. The growlight inside used for starting off more tender seeds like cucumbers, squashes and courgettes was crammed with seedlings waiting to be moved to the greenhouse once the danger of frost had passed.
The greenhouse was also full of plants like dahlias waiting for milder nights before they could be moved outside.
Hopefully, all these plants aren’t going to have to put up with the same poor growing conditions that those early broad beans had to contend with. To me, it seems like the growing season is only just starting to get underway.
