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In respon se to widespread reports in the media of snowdrops flowering very late this year, our Press Office have asked us to investigate.
Our feeling is that the snowdrops at Wisley are not significantly later than usual, although this might not be true in other gardens |
The way spring-flowering bulbs often work is that they need to experience some cold to get them ready to flower. Once this has been received, the rate of development is proportional to temperature. It seems likely that snowdrops work in this way, which would explain why they flower at more or less the same time each year. They should have received all the cold that they need by about December, and then grow at a rate determined by the temperature. As it has been colder this winter than in many recent winters, we would expect snowdrops to be a little later than usual, but this does not seem to have happened for us. We would be very interested to know what other gardeners think.
Last week we answered 549 questions from 344 people, by email, letter, phone and face-to-face at the Members' Advisory Centre at Wisley.
Top ten topics were:
1. Apple - pruning, which ones to grow and where to buy them were the top enquiries last week. But also the first questions about feeding – this is timely as fertiliser and mulch is applied to apples in early spring.
2. Camellia – the implications of recent cold weather on flowers has been questioned – they should be alright – we checked our Wisley ones and they appear unscathed.
3. Citrus - life is hard for citrus in winter. They relish a cool, bright environment where their owners refrain from excess watering! Unfortunately, centrally heated rooms with relatively little light do not suit them well, and disorders can occur. Our insect experts (entomologists) found scale insects and caterpillars on members' citrus last week.
4. Clematis - pruning is usually the most important question at this time of year.
5. Acer - Pruning, especially of Japanese maples, was the most numerous question.
6. Fig – Pruning this vigorous fruit tree was the most-asked question, but it is likely that we will soon be asked about alleviating frost damage after this sharp weather.
7. Ilex (holly) – lack of berries perplexes many gardeners. Often this is due to male clones being planted, or young, vigorous plants that will only start to flower and fruit when they settle down.
8. Malus (ornamental apples) – Surprisingly, there were many questions about damage to foliage seen last summer.
9. Moss – Although lawn moss is usually the commonest problem, many enquiries concern moss on roofs and on beds and borders. Roof moss is not really a gardening problem and we refer people to reputable roofing experts, but on beds and borders we think it more of a nuisance than a serious problem.
10 Daphne – Daphne bholua flowers in January and February, but when it doesn’t RHS members contact us. This can be a tricky plant to get to flower and we evaluate the growing conditions and plant history to see if we can pinpoint why flowers have not formed.