Now that it is possible to see any damage to plants caused by the frost and snow, it is a chance to note which varieties survive the harsh conditions, and which do not.
In Glasgow, we had below 0c temperatures day and night for over 3 weeks, but only some 2 in of snow fell over that period, so very little insulating snow cover.
Leeks Musselburgh still good, Giant Winter some casualties, Hannibal poor.
Brassicas January King cabbage still good, overwinter cauliflowers Purple Cape and Tosca look good, Kale look rather sorry which is a surprise.
Broad Beans Aquadulce Claudia in pots in the greenhouse probably will not survive. The temp in the greenhouse got down to -10C.
Herbs Red veined Sorrel, Perennial Rocket, Winter savory fine. Rosemary trying to flower!
Overwintering Garlic, Shallots, onions, while a bit bashed, look OK.
Carrots still in ground and good.
-25C here and 8" of snow.
Leeks and curly kale surviving so far. Lamb's lettuce under cloches OK too. Broccoli, white sprouting, Swiss chard and Japanese mizuna frozen to mush. I rather doubt the globe artichokes will have survived.
I had been hoping to get our compost heaps turned this weekend but OH was unwell. It's probably just as well as today we're frozen again and it'll get colder by the weekend so no digging of bean trenches yet and no point spreading compost for the worms to work through. They're hibernating down below along with the blasted slugs.
We had a freak spell of -32C last year and the only survivors were the blueberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb which all ended up doing well.
My biggest suprise was that there appears to be frost "burns" on my sprouts. I thought these loved frost but I have lost them all as they are browning in the middle now. Broad beans have done fine inder all that snow.
My leeks bolted last year through lack of watering so they are not really edible now but they have suffered with the frost too. Like you, the kale has suffered but hoping it will come back. Cabbages/ Purple sprouting all fine but they are under netting so maybe slightly protected.
Just been reading this:
http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show_vegetables_1/brassica-guide.php
It mentions giving theplant salt??
<Working, perhaps, from the observed resistance of wild cabbages on the sea coast to severe weather, gardeners decided that salt spray gave resistance to frost and treated their brassicas with a cube of salt in autumn. The salt, one cubic inch per plant, was measured using a potato with a cubic inch cut out.
What appears to cause the breakdown by frost of modern brassica leaves is alternate freezing and thawing. I have found that by giving individual plants a teaspoon of salt, the modern equivalent of a cubic inch, a resistance to this freezing is developed -just like topping up the car's radiator with anti freeze! Not only does it reduce frost damage, it also improves the flavour, particularly of sprouts, savoys and winter cabbage.>
Well, it has now been confirmed that the months of Dec and Jan in Scotland, were the coldest ever recorded. The average day and night temperature was just over 0C for the two months.
I think that when people finally get to see their allotments, more frost and snow damage will become apparent. I am worried about my Globe artichokes and Cardoons and no doubt other dieback problems will become apparent.