Wow, oh wow has the weather been "unseasonably cold" for the past couple of weeks. I know this is not news to anyone. It’s just that I have never seen this bad of freeze damage. Not only were many of the garden plants hurt by it, but so were the trees! Look at our normally beautiful Sugar Maple tree!
All of the leaves were killed by the many nights of freezing temperatures. When the wind blows, the leaves rustle like they do in the fall.
Nature is a funny thing though. There is a peach tree about fifty feet from our maple and it still has about half of it's blooms!
Unfortunately, this peach blossom is the exception to the rule. Many of our so-called hardy perennials were damaged. Look at the frost damage on these hostas and day Lilies:
And now for the dead plants that really sadden me; my poor baby broccoli and lettuce plants:
Actually, I think the lettuce may survive. My wife and I took a walk around the yard tonight and that is the kind of thing we found ourselves saying over and over. "That plant isn't too bad", and "That may make it" were the best we could come up with.
The plants that faired the best were ones that had a bit of protection from an overhead tree or roof overhang. The plants around and slightly under my daughters' tree house did well. For instance, here's some Easter Lilies and Live Forever:
The other thing that the cold has temporarily put a stop to is the reconstruction of our deck.
We'll just call that the "before" picture. I like to stay positive.
I will end on a positive note as well. These phlox seemed to sustain absolutely no damage.
Just like the peach blossoms, I can't explain it. They are right out in the open like everything else. That's just the way nature is I guess. As for the rest of the spring, I hope the weather is better. In the garden it is okay to lose some once in a while. It just makes our successes all the sweeter. You cannot have the mountaintops without the valleys.
Here's wishing you all a mountaintop growing season!
I guess all you can do is hope things bounce back. Plants are amazing things - I'll bet the maple even sends out new leaves to replace the frozen ones.
Posted by: TracyApril 17, 2007 at 06:08 PM
A little word of hope for you, from up here in the Frozen North (Atlantic Canada) -- those daylilies of yours should bounce right back like nothing ever happened. They're lovely tough things, almost all varieties are hardy as all get-out even here in my just-barely-zone-4 garden -- not to worry!
Posted by: April 20, 2007 at 04:36 AM