Thursday, December 3, 2015

It's only an experiment if you don't interfere...

Q. What's even worse than having temperatures suddenly drop into the low to mid 20's when you haven't even had a proper freeze?

A. When those temperatures are predicted for when you'll be out of town.

So it went for our Thanksgiving holiday away. As you know I've already moved most plants unable to tolerate an average Portland winter. Still there are a few experimental plants I chose to let be, knowing that if something drastic were to occur I'd jump into action and dig/protect them, or not - but of course that kind of last minute decision (based on the actual temperatures rather than the forecast) is not possible when you're not home.

In some cases - such as with this Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' - I planned no digging, but to let them live, or die, in place, on the off chance that things would be mild and I'd be rewarded with a bigger plant next spring. I took this photo before we left town last week.

This photo on Tuesday, December 1st. It's not as lush, but is hanging on.

Did you notice the Grevillea 'Ivanhoe' snuggled up against the Echium in the photos above? I seriously considered digging at least one of my three, but since they're theoretically hardy to 25F, and the lowest anyone was predicting was 23F I decided to just leave them and see what happened. Here's another one before...

And after...

Looking good! So just how cold did it get? According to the official temps we bottomed out at 24F on both Thursday Nov 26th and Monday Nov 30th - however my thermometer recorded a low of 28F. We are so close to the airport that it's rare for our temperatures to not match up, and I'd noticed some issues with the accuracy of our device last summer. I suspect it was probably closer to 24F here, if only briefly, and thankfully there were a couple of prior nights at 32F, or slightly lower, to help put things to sleep.

One of my major concerns were the many Echium wildpretii in the front garden. The temps were right on the border of potential life or death - I couldn't wait to see how they did. Before....

After

Before

After

Before

After (a few singed tips)

Before

After, well, one of them. This one shows the most damage, interesting that it's a first year plant as opposed to the others which overwintered last year in protected containers.

Grevillea 'Superb', before...

And after...

I came close to digging this one but just honestly ran out of time.

Acanthus sennii, before...

And after...so much for seeing those blooms open.

Leucadendron 'Silvan Red'...I meant to write about this guy over the summer but never did. Something I picked up at Cistus and put in the ground just because I wanted to. Hardy to Zone 9.

It was unfazed by the cold.

As was the Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue'. although it did look a little deflated early Tuesday morning.

I did completely forget about this Begonia luxurians ...

And the Passiflora jamesonii 'Coral Seas' foliage is toast, although perhaps the roots are still alive?

What remained of the Passiflora 'Sunburst' vines were already looking bad even before the cold, I'd cut them at the base and dug the plant to overwinter inside (it's only hardy to Zone 10).

I did however leave behind the volunteer that came up from last year's roots. It still looks good! And yes, that's a Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus) in the basement, visible through the window.

Another Echium (E. fastuosum), I completely forgot about this one, not that I would have dug it anyway.

Parts aren't looking good, but overall I'm impressed!

That lush little Saxifraga, dead center of the photo below (S. taygetea 'Rotundifolia') was labeled as USDA Zone 10, I planted it out anyway and look! It's okay.

Bottom center, Echeveria secunda - bought at Cistus Nursery, they say: "This high elevation collection has been frost hardy so far to as low as 12F!"...

And so far so good! (this is just one of multiples in my garden, they all look this good)

I neglected to do anything about the plants in the stock tank pond, the Peltandra virginica should be hardy to USDA Zone 5, and only the top inch or so of water froze. We shall see...

The Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' I thought might be a gonner looks fine...

Finally there is this...one of my Tetrapanax made it through the cold still threatening to bloom. The next week brings much milder temperatures, maybe???

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

31 comments:

  1. I am really amazed to see how much still looks so good after your freezing temps. I tried an Echium wildpretii in a pot this year. I don't know why, but it looks like it died soon after I brought it into the greenhouse, all the top foliage is grey and curly. I wonder if it will grow back from the roots. It never froze, so I don't know what happened.

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    1. That's odd! You've successfully overwintered an Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira' in your greenhouse right?

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  2. Very interesting to see all this, as cold damage is not something I'm familiar with. The occasional sight of bougainvillea cold damage is blackened foliage, but not around here. We've had some cold nights--down to the low 50's--that have reddened or pinked up most of the aloes in the garden. Gives me the idea to do a companion post to yours.

    An echeveria hardy to 12F--never would have thought!

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    1. I can't even imagine not having to deal with cold damage. Walking Lila the last few days I've been seriously trying to figure out howto get us moved to a warmer climate. I don't like being cold!

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  3. cant wait to see the damage at my garden!

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  4. I'm pretty stupid (not knowledgeable) about temperatures in Portland and Seattle-Tacoma, some how thinking that you had a mediterranean climate, i.e. mild winter, above freezing. Are these night in the 20s something new in the last few years somewhat akin to our heat waves beginning in April which is not the California I grew up with? When the nighttime temperature sank to 45, the African poinsettia outside browned and curled up its leaves, but that's all so far.

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    1. We have a modified Mediterranean climate. Our precipitation follows the model - dry summer, wet winter - but our temperatures, while being mild by many standards, do regularly drop below freezing. Seattle proper typically stays a little warmer in the winter, but we both experience freezing and occasional snow and ice. The coldest temp I've seen here in my Portland garden was in December of 2013 when we got down to 12.7 - that was also during a stretch of 5 days and nights never creeping above 32F, it was horrid. The cold is not new, it's typical for the area. If anything we're experiencing many winters that are warmer than the used to be, overall. Yet all it takes is that one cold spell to wipe out borderline plants.

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  5. You just proved that many plants can take more cold than people give them credit for. But it all depends on how long they were exposed to certain temperatures and if there was wind.

    Good news all around though!

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    1. Indeed, our being so close to the Columbia Gorge brings a lot of cold, drying, winter wind. Although that same wind also keeps the temperatures up - so it's a mixed bag.

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  6. It's actually a bit of relief when something like this happens -- it's out of your hands so you push things further than you would! The water plants should be perfectly fine, even though all top growth will die they'll come back. Plus the area surrounding your water tank should stay a bit warmer.

    I love when plants surprise you with their cold hardiness!

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    1. Sorry, I can't call it a relief, I'd be just fine with a non-testing warm winter. I guess I'm not an adventurer.

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  7. It's great how much came through unscathed. Fingers crossed for those tetrapanax blooms! Echeveria secunda is going on my list for my next visit to Cistus. Who knew?

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    1. I should have done a Tetrapanax comparison, my other plants all have droopy buds - that one is a star!

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  8. Unbelievable! This gives me hope. Here's to hardy Grevilleas!!

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    1. Well, don't get carried away there ma'm. Another couple of degrees (or length of the cold) and I'm sure I'd be sharing a different outcome.

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  9. Congratulations on a mostly successful experiment, so far. Sometimes I stick to the experimental design, sometimes I lose my resolve. Who are the friends above and to the left of S. Taygetea? Is the purple-leaved shrub a Pittosporum? To the left another Saxifrage? Man, you've got great plants. I'm crazy about the E. wildpretii foliage.

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    1. The purple leaves belong to Daphne x houtteana and yes, to the left is Saxifraga longifolia. That Daphne is surprisingly winter hardy to Zone 6!

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  10. It seems unusual to have so many things surviving beyond their advertised kill temps. I have mostly found the opposite to be true.

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    1. Maybe my garden stayed warmer than I thought?

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  11. Wow, so many things still look great! I know I wouldn't have been brave enough to leave those Grevilleas and the Leucadendron in the ground. I love the colors around that saxifrage. Silver, purple, and green, great combo! I had to leave the garden behind for Portland before things thawed out. Tomorrow I'm going out to take stock.

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    1. If I didn't have others as back up (other Leucadendron and Grevillea) I never could have! And of course if the temps had been predicted to go really low (teens) I might have been more tempted to dig. I look forward to reports from your homestead.

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  12. I love these before and after comparisons ... and your experiments. Good news that most of the plants survived. Will you dig some of them up before the next cold snap? I'm wondering if your Passifloras will simply re-emerge next spring. Apparently that's what happens here with the only species that's hardy to zone 5 (P. incarnata). Aren't these experiments fun?

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    1. I'm hoping there won't be a next cold snap! And yes...if the temps don't go lower there is a good chance of the Passiflora jamesonii 'Coral Seas' returning.

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  13. Remarkable! Are you going to continue the experiment and let nature take its course, or will you protect the plants the next time the temperature plummets? Like Hoover Boo, I have no real experience with freezing temps but I have noticed that, while many plants here can tolerate the ad hoc short-term temperature spikes we're more familiar with, many of these will succumb when that miserable weather pattern becomes more prevalent.

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    1. No next time! Ha...our winter (thanks to El Nino) is supposed to be warmer than the norm. I'm hoping that's true, but if it's not I'll wait to cross that bridge when I (you know the rest)...

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  14. Most things look as if nothing had happen!!! I think you are going to be lucky with those tetrapanax flowers :D.

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  15. I remember those days when I was young like you and had the energy to move a large collection of plants back and forth to protect them from the weather.
    Thank you for the educational tour of your garden telling us how your plants handled the temperatures they were exposed to last week.
    John(Aberdeen)

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    1. Hmm...young? I don't think I qualify for that any longer. Stupid maybe!

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  16. Funny that happened, but neither 24 or 28 sound too bad. Your plants still look good, just not all in the pristine condition of Baja Oregon (California). I wish more plant people were like you, then I wouldn't have to see Russian Sage and ash trees in every garden...

    Here, still mild...only 3 nights barely <32F...average by now is about 10 freezing nights.

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