Reflections on Past, Present and Future

I had no luck with them last year, but last year's winter was (supposedly) extraordinarily cold. I lost everything, bar one chrysanthemum which seems to be indestructible, the begonias, which were dried off and boxed, and the penstemmons, which were kept inside as cuttings. Everything else - osteospermum, geraniums, chrysanths, fuschia etc. died, even though they were in a nice cosy porch. Even inside, temperatures must have dropped to minus four, which probably explains the catastrophic survival rate.