FROSTY morning can be a beautiful sight as the low winter sun rises over mist-draped fields, but for those of us who grow early-flowering fruit trees it can also cause panic.

The likes of almonds, apricots, peaches and nectarines plus their hybrids can easily start flowering during late winter and early spring. Harsh frosts can also occur at this time, and the two processes combined can spell disaster. While these fruit trees are hardy, their flowers are not. Frost damages or even kills the flowers, so at best you end up with scanty, malformed fruits or at worse,
you get no fruits at all. It's not all doom and gloom though. While it might be impossible to protect a fully-grown free-standing tree, wall-trained plants can be draped in a double-layer of horticultural fleece when frost is forecast. Hold the fleece away from the flowers with bamboo canes, and uncover it when the risk has gone so insects can pollinate the blooms.

Patio dwarf varieties grown in pots like peach ‘Bonanza' and apricot Aprigold' can simply be moved under cover when frost is forecast. Plant breeders are also helping by developing frost-resilient varieties such as apricot ‘Flavorcot.