We seem to be continuing this trend of a real mixture of weather patterns, one minute mild, next cold with night frosts. Daytime temperatures can be deceptive on the steep slope (there is a thermometer positioned by one of the bee hives) rising to 9°C by midday (17/1/04) and yet in the village the temperature was 4°C. If there is a Northerly wind, there is this microclimate, hence the bees become active for a few hours around midday. The night frosts always worry me - nothing is artificially protected - I used to run around with newspaper (before fleece!) and so far the only casualty has been Ferreyanthus excelsus, young plants that I have grown from cuttings and these have been reduced to a pulp. At least I can gain solace from the fact that plants grown outside in Portmeirion have had a similar fate! Those in the polytunnels are fine. Buddleia nappii seems to be fine and so far is unscathed, we shall see. Woodwardia orientalis v. formosana BSWJ6865 similarly seems fine. It will be interesting if this survives with its fascinating bulbils on the surface of its fronds.

26th January 2004 - Really cold, frosts at night affecting the Camellias with a layer of ice on the water barrels. The Hamamelis, Daphne, Mahonia, Galanthus and Narcissi seem unaffected. In one way I wish it would snow to give some sort of insulation to the plants. The Acacia is almost ready to flower and one hopes that this will escape the worst.