I looked out of the window a couple of hours ago this morning, back here in Pennsylvania, and every twig, every leaf was covered with ice. The temperature was just below freezing and it was raining steadily. The frozen rain covered everything - including our three 30ft birch trees.

The weight of the ice has arched the trunks so that the top of one almost touches the ground. The other two are arching over the single storey house, just touching the roof. They will never be straight again. And the area of garden which they shade will change this season as who knows where they will lean as they recover.

It’s now just after 9.00am and the temperature has crept above freezing, so the dripping as begun and the load is lightening, ever so slightly, every second. All the shrubs, weighed down in the same way, are also inching slowly back towards normal. And perhaps the phone lines – also, of course, encased in ice, - will be spared collapse under the weight.

The garden will certainly be different this season.