Allotment Plot under snow from top 06-02-2012 002

looks very clean, but will the new plants suffer?

A little snow hides a lot of ... ! Once the snow has gone & the ground becomes workable again it will only benefit the soil! The few plants in the ground just laugh at the cold & continue later as if nothing had happened. I've not put anything into the ground in months. It will also be months before I add anything!

nods, gotcha. what's already there is already big enough to shrug it off

Anything that is still alive under the snow is something that will grow in spite of such terribly low temps. Things like Rhubarb or Asparagus or Sweetpeas.

smiles ruefully, and the only way to find out what's hardy enough to survive is to try it with lots of plants and see what survives

I have a fairly good idea what will or won't survive so don't really need to do much experimentation.

grins, ok, but you never know, you might get some pleasant surprises!

I wish! While they are not unpleasant ones!

lol that's the usual aim - avoid unpleasant ones, nice ones are a bonus