Wednesday, November 27, 2013

In a word, cold.

Last week saw the coldest temperatures of the season, a low of 26.6 in my garden. I know that's not cold by most standards but hey, I'm a wimp! The cool-down had been predicted, and so I had plenty of time to get prepared. I thought I was, but then I saw this. How could I have completely forgotten about the Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira'?

It would have been so easy to turn an old terra-cotta pot over this guy...

The one in the back garden looks a little better, it might make a recovery. It was so beautiful, and sadly too big to have been easily protected. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Earlier in the season I considered digging the Salvia discolor and trying to over-winter it, but I'd pretty much decided not to. Now the final decision has been made for me. Truth be told I'm kind of glad as I think the brown and white coloration post-frost is quite gorgeous.

I cut a branch and brought it in the house, it filled the room with that lovely decaying, fall, smell.

There will be no Acanthus sennii flowers for me. By days-end the stems had turned mushy and fallen over.

After taking the photo above I turned back towards the salvia to see Lila drinking from the previously iced over rain gauge, which had melted in the sun. Evidently water tastes better when it's not in her bowl.

She did attract my attention to this purple cordyline I picked up for cheap last spring. Experience says theses aren't at all hardy but this one still looks good.

When I looked out early in the morning the Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue' foliage was all limp. It perked up with the rising temperatures.

And the Sedum rubrotinctum still looked good.

Not so for the bits of Blue Senecio - it's not happy. Ah well, I took a lot of cuttings, it couldn't all be saved.

The Phylica pubescens from Annie's was untouched.

But just a couple of feet away the lawn was locked in a frosty state.

Duh, I meant to wrap the trunk of my in-ground tree fern. I guess better late than never.

Elephant ears (colocasia) look even more like their namesake once hit by frost.

Grevillea rivularis (lacy foliage, upper right) looks good, Aloe maculata not so much. When the leaves turn solid green they've frozen.

It didn't occur to me until after the second cold night that I'd completely forgotten about the Echium wildpretii. How could I? So easy to cover! I had four of them, this was the biggest. Hopefully it will pull through, hopefully they all will.

The dark leaf cannas actually get even better after a freeze, that is until their leaves turn to mush and the stem collapses.

Ever the tough guy my Mangave 'Macho Mocha' shrugged off the cool temperatures.

Although this split in the fleshy leaf is new, perhaps a little frost damage.

And once again my hope of seeing Tetrapanax blooms has been crushed, the buds are droopy and that's never a good sign.

Finally I'll end with an image of a tree just up the street. Perhaps it's done this before but this is the first year I've noticed the ombre coloring with super dark maroon leaves at the top, shading down to yellow-green at the base. It's way more dramatic in person, but hopefully you can appreciate the show.

So that was the first round, I'm currently hearing scary things about next week. The "S" word is being mentioned. Temperatures in the teens (and lower) are being discussed and the two worst words in the English language (arctic air) are being used with frightening frequency. I'm seriously wondering how I would go about constructing a heated dome over my garden, Andrew's handy...

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

36 comments:

  1. I'm always surprised by how many things I would have brought in weeks ago that you leave in the ground. I hope they survive. And I hope that S word doesn't materialize, here or there.

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    1. It's just a matter of not being able to bring in everything Alison. Pretty much what goes in the ground stays in the ground, unless of course something freaky comes along and then who knows what I might resort to.

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  2. I used to love fall before I became a gardening addict. My E. Candicans is living mostly under plastic, but the long term weather looks even colder. I hope the temperatures don't plummet into the mid-teens like a few years ago! I sure wish those cordylines were more hardy. They have the exact look and structure for a spot in my yard. Any tips on something similar but hardier? Yours looks like it has a fighting chance so far.

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    1. Yes! Gardening will do that to a person. If you can keep your E. Candicans alive this winter I will be very very impressed! (and happy for you) What part of town are you in? As for a substitute for the cordylines, no! And I wish I had. There is nothing quite like them, or phormium.

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    2. Ok, manzanita Jim was taken. So this will do.

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    3. Oh damn, manzanita Jim would have been fun!

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  3. 26.6F IS cold (but then we bundle up when temps creep down into the 50s so, if you're a wimp, we're ultra-wimps). It's sad to lose plants under any circumstances - I hope yours recover and that "S" remains at bay.

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    1. Thank you, I'm glad you understand. In a strange twist for me I was actually okay with the "S" if extreme arctic air is on the way. It's so dry right now it might be the fluffy kind (not the wet branch breaking kind) and it would act as insulation. We shall see...

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  4. Frankly, I'm more scared of the "C" word than the "S" word in my garden. I neglected to cover my echiums and they all look pretty unhappy. We'll see if they can recover. My Tetrapanax buds are drooping just like yours - farewell to THAT dream for 2013! And Lila is just being a dog: Don't you know water tastes ten times better out of a mud puddle than one's own, clean, water bowl?

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    1. Yes me too actually ("S" vs. "C" for the reasons mentioned above). I do remember as a kid water was always better out of the house than the kitchen sink...

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    2. I'm feeling so dumb--what is the C word? I mean, I know ONE C word but I don't think you're talking about that.

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  5. Love that tree at the end...very dramatic! There is a small maple (not sure if it's a Japanese Maple or a Vine Maple) down the street from us that does the same thing...I absolutely love it...I asked what it was...but the owner had now idea :-(

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    1. I've thought about asking this one what hers is (the tree) but I would probably get a similar response.

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  6. Posts like this always depress me because I know how you feel. But even though things may look bad now, not all is lost. Your Salvia discolor will pull through; mine always has. The echiums should, too, provided you give them some protection going forward.

    Our first frost is still ahead of us, but it will come...

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    1. Really (salvia) I didn't think there was a chance. Of course I guess it's all in what lies ahead in the next week (months).

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  7. Don't feel bad...some things will always fall through the cracks. Around here, the best laid plans never seem to come to fruition, and I will once again miss seeing Mahonia 'Arthus Merzies' bloom. R did cover Rhododendron sinograde though (he is much more diligent then I).

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    1. Wow it never even occurred to me to think about covering the Rhododendron sinograde! Thanks for the tip for what lies ahead. How cold did it get at your place?

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    2. Sorry, but we're such layabeds that we never check in time to see the nadir on the thermometer (some coping technique, huh?)

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  8. So sad to see the damage to your green children. We are not amused by the sounds of the dire temperature predictions. Yuk! Your agaves all look fabulous!

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    1. They do! I was just looking at them today and thinking that. (with a little pang of sad wonder at what they'll look like after next week...)

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  9. Do you have any back up plants of that Echium tucked away somewhere warmer and safe? Until your post I haven't thought of using frosted but intact plant material as indoor decoration before, a good and unique idea!

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    1. Nope. A smart person would have a couple, but that is not I.

      I hadn't ever done it (the frosted bits) before but the leaves and contrasting stems were just so pretty I wanted to enjoy them!

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  10. I didn't know aloe leaves are frozen when they turn solid green. That is interesting.

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    1. I don't know that for sure, on all aloes. Just this one, and only speaking from personal experience (meaning I'm no expert!)

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  11. Arctic air...yes, I would agree...the worst two words in combination. Even here in Houston those words bring a chill to my spine.
    Happy Thanksgiving.
    David/:0)

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    1. Happy T-day to you David, glad to see your plants missed a cold snap. Doesn't look like mine will be so lucky,

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  12. I never even THOUGHT of Tetrapanax blooming. That would be a wonderful sight to see in one's garden!

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    1. Indeed, sadly mine keeps getting close but doesn't actually make it...

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    2. fifi lafontaineDecember 01, 2013

      Oooh, I missed this post! Is there anything to be done about protecting the Tetrapanax? Is it root hardy in these incoming colder temps, or are it's days in my yard numbered? Thanks again for the blog!

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    3. In my experience it is usually root hardy. It's taken awhile but mine have always come back, eventually. In fact if they do die back they usually come back with a vengeance (one plant becomes three). I bought a few foam pipe insulators today at the orange big box (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Armacell-Tubolit-1-in-x-6-ft-Polyethylene-Semi-Split-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation-OEP11838/100111613?N=buy9%3Fbrowsestoreoption%3D1#.UpwCDsRDsg8) thinking I'd use them to protect the trunks, which I'd really like to keep. Who knows if it will work but they were cheap so why not try?

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    4. fifi lafontaineDecember 01, 2013

      Hey, that's a great idea! Maybe I'll do the same. Thanks again for all your advice!

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  13. I hope your pretty babies make it, we have a long way to go until spring. Many still look great, I like the curls on the Echium wildpretii.

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    1. Next week will be the test won't it? Make my head want to explode just thinking about it...

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  14. It is always sad to lose plants to mother nature. Be it cold, heat drought or excessive rain. Oh I forgot hail! I didn't realize you had freezes in Portland. Maybe because you are not on the water. We are all tucked in for the winter but then who knows what might come along. Whatever, the garden and the gardener will not be deterred. Happy Thanksgiving.

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    1. Oh ya, freezes every year...lows typically in the 20's, unfortunately sometimes in the teens.

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