The calm after the storm.......

The bad weather hit us a couple of days ago. Heavy rain and gales. Snow in the Highlands.
Not the sort of weather we were expecting in May, heading towards "blazing" June.
We were bombarded by winds of 80 - 100mph, there was no electricity in the city of Inverness, the Forth and Tay Bridges were closed, trains were not running or delayed and trees were down blocking roads. Even though the forecasts had warned us the force of the gale was unexpected.


It is a small happening compared with  tornadoes in the States or volcanic eruptions in Iceland etc but the damage next day was plain to see and devastating for some.


This part of Scotland is famous for it's soft fruit, particularly strawberries and raspberries. With such a warm April the crop was heading for a bumper harvest just in time for the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament at the end of June.  Nearly all the fruit is grown under poly-tunnels which lengthens the season. Gale force winds had ripped off the polythene and mangled many of the metal structures.

Hopefully the strawberry crop can be saved but repairing the tunnels will cost the growers a lot of money.

Fallen trees were a major headache blocking roads and railway lines (and even paths that dog walkers use!)

Locally some more permanent structures such as green houses and gazebos were damaged beyond repair and newly planted bedding blackened by the harsh winds.


The garden at Gallery in Angus was due to open for the first time this year at the weekend. I was going to do a post about it as Gallery is a very fine garden full of treasures. Due to wind damage the opening was cancelled. They are also opening in July and hopefully everything will be flourishing by then.


 In our own back yard the damage was less dramatic but bad enough when an Open Garden day looms. Fortunately plants have a great capacity to recover and can be tidied up, or even replaced if necessary.


While the gale blows there is nothing the gardener can do except baton down the hatches and ignore the havoc outside.
My attitude has mellowed somewhat from the wild woman in Orkney who used to rush about madly trying to rescue precious plants and stop plastic ripping off the poly tunnel. What a waste of time that was!


The winds had died down slightly by the second day but were still blustery enough to cause damage to trees and shrubs. I was so relieved that the two cardiocrinum giganteum (now about 4 ft tall) were still standing unaffected by the turmoil.


The inventory of damage in our garden was as follows:


• Cirsium rivularis  Parts of clumps flattened and flower heads snapped off.
• Crambe cordifolia  The largest of the three had split in the middle.  Cut of the damaged offshoots and  planted in pots.
• Buddleja davidii "Black Night"  Some new sappy growth had been snapped off.
• Clematis armandii  This had come loose from the metal arch over the gate and the foliage was withered and blackened.
• Fruit Bushes  Redcurrants and gooseberries had been battered and lost a lot of the top growth. I thought the fruit cage might have offered some protection.....Wrong.
• Vegetables  The net over the chard and spinach had come loose and caught on the young plants breaking them off. The peas (heritage pea "Gravedigger") were flattened by the wind and look beyond help.

• Herbs Some of the clumps of taller herbs such as French tarragon have fallen over and others now  have a distinct list to one side.

By the time I had finished tidying up I had a wheelbarrow full of debris.

It could have been worse..........