Guess what fell from the sky today?

Thats a shame,Have you no where you can put your crocus under cover as that type often push up more than one flower

Interesting, and sometimes worrying, to see the effect the snow and ice is having on gardens... that's a pity about the crocus... Let's hope Bjs is right and there are more flowers to come ...

... do you think there are fish alive below the ice, or has it been too cold for survival ?

Oh, not more white stuff! Poor you Seaburngirl. I hope it doesn't last long. At least the crocuses will flower again next year.

We expected some white stuff last night but luckily it didn't appear. I put a few pots of bulbs under bushes to prevent them getting squashed. It only works with light snow, the heavy stuff is hard to control.
Happy New Year SBG.

The same here but turning now to sleet, I did say it might be like last year come go then return, I recall goyers commenting that they thought they would lose their plants.

Sorry to hear you had more snow. It's depressing. I hope it doesn't last long.
I actually think the cold weather preserves pests and germs :o( Like putting things in the freeezer.
Pitty you missed the crocuses. Maybe you'll be able to see later bulbs

Thanks for the comments. The crocus are autumn flowering ones so they will go in the ground for next year. The weather caught me out so I hadnt got all the fuchsias and dahlias etc into the greenhouse to prevent the worst of the weather.

We have a lovely sunny blue sky at the moment [mid day] but it is very cold.

As for the fish ... there were 50 odd of varying ages and sizes oldest 29 to some only 6 months old. It will be a wait and see strategy. It is over 3 ft deep at its deepest so I know it isnt fully frozen.

all the weather in one day here ~ we had sleet, snow, frozen bird bath, rain and now sun!!!!

Oh dear, bad luck Seaburn - hope you've got some other bulbs to look forward to. Cold here too, and cloudy, so we couldn't see the eclipse either. I think you're not the only one to be caught out by the sudden cold snap; my greenhouse hadn't gone below 5 degrees, geraniums doing fine, then out of the blue, not fine at all. :(

Fingers crossed for your fish.

Oh No not more snow !!

no eclipse here either but tonight there should be meteor showers ~ unfortunately its so cloudy i dont think i will get to see those either!!!

Sticki ...
... Have faith that all these events are happening up above the clouds... eclipses, meteor showers ... and aliens arriving in flying saucers...;o)

hi SBG,what a pity you lost your crocus,i hope your fish are all ok..we had a fall of the stuff last night but it has melted throughout the day pleased to say..:o)

You`re right about the bugs getting killed off SBG, thats why the roses were so good last year. Hopefully it`ll be the same this year too. :o)

I kept finding lots of ladybirds snuggled up and clusters of snails too. fewer aphids though :o))

Oh bad luck........dont send me any please. I do hope your fish make it through the winter.

Hope your fish survive. We are expecting more snow today but turning to rain later on. Even though we've kept the greenhouse above freezing the plants aren't looking good with the lack of light.

i know what you mean about the light in the greenhouse. well lack of it......

It did snow about 2 inches, slushy stuff then today it's raining hard and the snow has gone....thank goodness.

Hope you are free of snow now, Sb. We haven't had much here but all the same I hope we have seen the last of it for this winter!

Has your pond thawed out yet so you can check on your fish? I think the worst for them is the lack of oxygen in the water after a couple of days. Being 3ft deep they should have survived but if the surface was totally frozen then oxygen wouldn't be able to get into the water. I've heard that a floating rubber ball helps to keep a small area free from ice.

Shame you missed the Crocuses. I have 9 clay pots on my balcony railings full of Violas & underplanted with spring flowering crocuses & during the coldest weather I moved them further into the balcony, into the plastic covered greenhouse. I didn't want the pots to break with the extreme frosts we have been having. Now the crocuses are pushing up through the soil in the pots. :-))

The ice is still 3" thick on the pond and I have removed 3 dead ones but there are at least another 3 entombed. There were to many fish anyway. I have always had an ice free spot in one planted up corner, but many of the dead became trapped as it froze. The crocuses will do their thing again next year. The spring ones are doing nicely too poking heads up.

Not done any gardening as such just clearing the last of the builders rubble after the building of the conservatory. Then a romantic trip to the tip with hubby :o)

I have only lost 2 terracotta pots all the rest have so far managed to survive.

well the pond is finally ice free and the death toll is quite high.
22 goldfish, the 29 yr old tench [sob] and 2 frogs.

but on the bright side there are 34 live goldfish [all younger than the ones that died, they would be 20+] and 3 frogs.

I am going to have a good look round the garden this afternoon and plan what needs tidying up etc.

That's sad you've lost 22 goldfish ...
... and the special tench ... and the frogs...

Glad you have quite a lot of goldfish still alive ... and the frog trio...

Good luck with the tidying up.

Sorry about the losses. You had a huge number of fish in there - now there's more room for the survivors to grow into though. And the frogs will carry on too.

Shame to hear about the number of fishes that have died in the pond. ;-(( The pond must be very big to have had so many fish in it! It's remarkable that the tench should live for so many years in the pond! At least the survivors will have more room to grow into bigger & longer lived fish.

I expect you will find that more frogs discover your pond this spring & you will be able to listen to their croaking again soon!

there are several frogs dotted about the garden but they have never spawned in the pond.

Its about 8 ft by 12ft wide and 3ft 6" deep. so it is quite big I suppose. Its in the top photo covered in snow.