After what feels like the longest winter ever, and in fact the coldest March for 50 years (according to the Met Office), the weather has at last started to warm up.
The buds haven’t quite burst yet, but they are beginning to swell which means it won’t be long now. This is the time when the vines are most vunerable to frost damage, so I have covered them with shrub shelters again which I hope will protect them during those cold spring nights. Last year the buds burst at the beginning of April so we’re about three weeks later this year, although I’m sure they will soon catch up and actually having a later start means a shorter time window for frost damage.
