We had a FROST and my beans have died!

[traumaqueen]

I cannot believe it! I nurtured my heritage runner and climing french beans in the greenhouse using peat free compost, lovingly prepared a rich and delicious bed for them to grow in and a delightful rustic arch for them to grow over, planted them out, freecycled the leftovers and THEN WE HAD A FROST! In Surrey, in a sheltered town garden, in the middle of May. Now I am going to have to buy crappy commercially grown ones from the garden centre because I haven't got any seed left over.

Grrrr!

really takver [ignorant]?

Damn - there goes my excuse for not digging over the veg patch before DH gets home...

good point Takver

stealth - if they have been indoors you may want to put them outside during the day and bring them in at night for a few days just to harden them off a bit, otherwise they may sulk for a week or so

they can bolster the spirits of the tomatoes

Taffetacat you may have just bought me back my two more days of ignoring the need to dig

All the tomatoes people has planted out on allotment died despite some being fleeced and bubble wrapped. My peas which are currently flowering weren't touched.

Traded 3 rather tall runner seedlings for two aubergines yesterday so now have tall beans to worry about rather than the rest of my just germinating beans.

Its far too early to put tomatoes outside! Are you mad?

Peas, however, are very tough and some varieties can over-winter under a cloche.

My peas overwinter happily without a cloche. They even survived this latest really cold winter. Carrots & broccoli will be fine outside now too. Courgettes, sweetcorn, tomatos & beans will not tolerate a frost (courgettes & tomatoes not even a slight hint of a frost) - I don't put mine out before the last week of May (beans & sweetcorn) or June (tomatoes & courgettes). A couple of years ago lots of people were caught out by a frost at the very end of May.

Oh and broad beans, unlike french and runner beans, are very hardy and some varieties will also overwinter and sit under snow quite happily.

I personally haven't put tomatoes out and have spent the last two weeks saying to DH that it would all end in tears with all the tender plants people have planted out at the allotment which is a new site. Sad to see it when it happens though but it is the first time growing veg for a lot of people there and they have been really keen to get plots planted up as are temporary and were lulled into sense of false security with April weather.

My tomatoes are cossetted with fleece in the greenhouse and get more attention at bedtime than my poor children at the moment.

OK, in a complete reversal of my stated plan, everything except the tomatoes (so beans, peas, beetroot, courgettes) is now planted out, and fingers are firmly crossed. This has more to do with my forgetting to buy water-holding stuff for the hanging baskets than any deep concern for the welfare of the tomatoes.

The chillis, aubergines and cucumbers are stretching out and relaxing into the space created in the cold frame.

My beans have been out a couple of weeks with no problems up in Lancashire - I keep them next to the house wall which is a tadge warmer. Looked at the tomato plants when I went to the nursery yesterday but resisted.

Got strawberry plants though, apparently the nursery field grows them so I presume they are hardy.

No signs of life from my standard grapefruit tree, grown from a pip over 15 years ago which has overwintered outside in the past but this year seems to have done for it.. I cut it back to where the wood didn't seem dead, do you think there's the slightest hope?

Well the frost got my beans, so last week i planted limka ones indoors and they are now ready for planting out, so not too late to grow some more. Also this morning I have just dashed out and purchased Blue Lake climing french beans and sown 2 large pots indoors and reckon they will be ready to go out within a week as well.

Grimma, strawbs are completely hardy, stay out all year.

I'd say grapefruits are usually grown in slightly more tropical areas than Lancashire?

Did it smell like orange blossom?

anyone in Newcastle? i have loads of chitted potatoes left over. And tomato plants by the bucket

Keep sowing seeds folks, theres plenty of time for crops to catch up. I'm not feeling smug despite not planting anything much yet, its just that I'm in Scotland and love being lazy about planting out cos you just know that some slippery buggery frost will catch you out. We had a flurry of snow last week for goodness sake. Much much nicer now.

My grapefruit tree only ever had one flower, but yes it smelled wonderful, like orange blossom.