O.K so this winter has been cold.
However, the temperatures here have not dropped nearly as low as they did in the 2000 - 1 winter.
It has just been consistently cool for a long time.
Obviously some plants have died, and some just look battered and will probably recover.
From past experience Pittosporums have an unpleasant habit of looking sick, rallying and then succumbing ostentatiously long after the cold weather had been forgotten.
By July the winter should be just a memory - and not a large corpse.
If in doubt chuck any ailing Pittosporum on the bonfire right now.
Some young plants have a better chance of survival (like Cistus) some plants develop immunity to cold as they age
Is it all bad?
I suspect not.
Losses mean opportunities to try new plants, to revamp areas that were becoming tired and, more importantly, to decrease the slow increment of evergreens.
W are all prone to buy them and a succession of mild winter means they will prosper and subtly upset the balance between evergreen and deciduous. Too many evergreens in Britain gives an unnaturally 'heavy' look at odds with nature.
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