On Mar 7, 10:28*am, eggplant
wrote:
Hi everyone. Hope you've had a good gardening weekend. *SO here's my
question.

It was a pretty atrocious winter. Here in S/W Kerry we had the most snow
and the longest periods of frost since the sixties. *Can you help me
make a hard decision on whether my penstemmons failed to survive the
winter or whether I need to be more patient?

There is absolutely no green anywhere and the twigs I have broken off
snapped off cleanly - brittle with no bend at all. I'm more than a bit
ticked as they're four years old. *Does anyone feel they might bounce
back with more time. Its really hard staring at dead plants. *Thanks for
the advice.

--
eggplant

I'll vote for patience...I'm in Oregon and my garden took a beating
this winter too. We had prolonged record sub-freezing temps, snow and
hit a low of 9 degrees which burst pipes all over town. At first look
my Penstemons (Sour Grape & Apple Blossom varieties) looked stone
dead.

Made a note to pull them, but when I went back to actually clean the
beds a week or two later, way down at the bottom of the very dead
stems I found the tiniest little green leaf buds. Have had them die
way back before and as long as there's a spark there, they seem to
recover and bloom vigorously. No harm in giving them a bit of time.

Nancy T

On 3/11/10 1:03 AM, in article
,
"ntantiques" wrote:

On Mar 7, 10:28*am, eggplant
wrote:
Hi everyone. Hope you've had a good gardening weekend. *SO here's my
question.

It was a pretty atrocious winter. Here in S/W Kerry we had the most snow
and the longest periods of frost since the sixties. *Can you help me
make a hard decision on whether my penstemmons failed to survive the
winter or whether I need to be more patient?

There is absolutely no green anywhere and the twigs I have broken off
snapped off cleanly - brittle with no bend at all. I'm more than a bit
ticked as they're four years old. *Does anyone feel they might bounce
back with more time. Its really hard staring at dead plants. *Thanks for
the advice.

--
eggplant

I'll vote for patience...I'm in Oregon and my garden took a beating
this winter too. We had prolonged record sub-freezing temps, snow and
hit a low of 9 degrees which burst pipes all over town. At first look
my Penstemons (Sour Grape & Apple Blossom varieties) looked stone
dead.

Made a note to pull them, but when I went back to actually clean the
beds a week or two later, way down at the bottom of the very dead
stems I found the tiniest little green leaf buds. Have had them die
way back before and as long as there's a spark there, they seem to
recover and bloom vigorously. No harm in giving them a bit of time.

Nancy T
I'm with Nancy - patience is a hard thing to council, but what change a week
or two might make.


Cheryl

In article ,
Cheryl Isaak wrote:

On 3/11/10 1:03 AM, in article
,
"ntantiques" wrote:

On Mar 7, 10:28*am, eggplant
wrote:
Hi everyone. Hope you've had a good gardening weekend. *SO here's my
question.

It was a pretty atrocious winter. Here in S/W Kerry we had the most snow
and the longest periods of frost since the sixties. *Can you help me
make a hard decision on whether my penstemmons failed to survive the
winter or whether I need to be more patient?

There is absolutely no green anywhere and the twigs I have broken off
snapped off cleanly - brittle with no bend at all. I'm more than a bit
ticked as they're four years old. *Does anyone feel they might bounce
back with more time. Its really hard staring at dead plants. *Thanks for
the advice.

--
eggplant

I'll vote for patience...I'm in Oregon and my garden took a beating
this winter too. We had prolonged record sub-freezing temps, snow and
hit a low of 9 degrees which burst pipes all over town. At first look
my Penstemons (Sour Grape & Apple Blossom varieties) looked stone
dead.

Made a note to pull them, but when I went back to actually clean the
beds a week or two later, way down at the bottom of the very dead
stems I found the tiniest little green leaf buds. Have had them die
way back before and as long as there's a spark there, they seem to
recover and bloom vigorously. No harm in giving them a bit of time.

Nancy T
I'm with Nancy - patience is a hard thing to council, but what change a week
or two might make.


Cheryl

At least 1/3 of our azaleas have 2/3 leaf damage in the form of a
burn or dryness. They still bend a good sign BTW. Strange that some
are OK and others affected may be age related thou. This winter so far
was down to 6 F. where last year we had a -5 F. with no azalea
damage. Hmmmn.
I intend to wait and cut back as a last resort. Also in process of
replacing some as they are about 40 years old and have been fighting
borers all their lives.
About to remove leaves and construct a small light intensity plant
thingy.
Rumor has my brother next door intends to put three large commercial
greenhouse up next door. I may see If I can lease 20 sq. feet for
greens etc.

--
Bill Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending