Snow

It is snowing where I am. I have a number of plants in pots outside, most of which have been there since spring/summer, or else are already established from previous years. They include a fuchshia, some viola tricolours (pansies), a small heather, and various, now dormant, long standers such as nasturtiums and a Helichrysum. These last are from my mother's garden so I have no experience of them prior to this year. Is it true that snow acts as an insulation blanket for outdoor plants and protects them from frost and cold? Should the plants be brought indoors?

On a more theoretical note, how does the snow provide this insulation, since it is its self very cold? And aren't we discouraged from steeping plants in water or pouring water directly onto flowers and leaves? As snow is essentially frozen water, how come it does not do damage when it melts?

 

Thanks. Does that mean that the plants will be okay left where they are?

 

We too have snow but if snow was to get too heavy onplants I woudl be brushing it off.

 

I reckon the Nasturtium is doomed, though that said mine is still clinging to life by its fingertips. It is not a very hardy plant at all and the first frost usually wipes it out in my experience.

As for snow acting as an insulator, yes snow is just ice, but the ice crystals are like fibres, with lots of trapped air in between. Both water and air are poor conductors of heat, so something hiding under a blanket of snow shouldn't experience much of a further drop in temperature than that caused by the snow being on it. For example if you get a coating of snow while the ground is zero degrees, then even if the air temperature above the snow drops to -20, the insulating properties of the snow mean that the ground will stay at roughly zero degrees and not drop much further.