Oh no, snow!

The snow has arrived. Friday lunchtime time the snow started to fall in Cardiff and within a few hours a good few inches had settled. So begins the big freeze.

Earlier in the week the days had been getting chillier with morning frosts damaging the still flowering Cosmos and Rudbeckia. The weight of the snow finally crushed the life from them and all that remains of the Cosmos is withered and broken stems. Surprisingly some of the Rudbeckia might still survive.




Since the snow arrived its been more important to feed and water the birds. The bird bath must now be defrosted each morning with hot water replacing the thick layer of ice. This morning I filled the bird bath with freshly boiled water. With the temperature at -2 the water had started to freeze again by the afternoon. Within minutes of going back into the house the Robin had arrived at the bird bath for a drink. It would have found the water too warm and drank from the cooler spillage on the floor.

Peanuts and seed is already hanging in the garden. Muesli, dried fruit, mixed nuts, meal worms and biscuits are put out each morning. Today these foods attracted the robin, magpies, a group of 8 starlings, a pair of collared dove and 5 or 6 blackbird. Interesting, and worryingly no sparrows have been seen in the garden for some days. Hopefully they have found a better food source.

There is very little to do in the garden for the next few months apart from harvest the Brussels and parsnip later in the year and plan for next year. Ive not really thought too much about the year to come apart from controlling the spread of the hostas and day lilies. These two plants have been most successful but do cover a lot of space when fully grown that other plants struggle to compete. The evergreen shrubs that should be providing winter colour and interest are disappointing as a result.