I have been trying, TRYING to write to my garden neighbors now for
WEEKS. It has been extremely trying for me to accomplish this.
Apparently Mom's Nature and Old Man Winter have been going at it hammer
and tongs. Living like I do back here in Fairy Holler up on this ridge
in a micro-climate of growing zone 7 (meaning the temperatures are
mostly kind and not below 10o F. too often in winter time) winter tried
to grip us a few times, and I have to admit I actually wanted some
serious winter weather. Snow, freezes, all that stuff that allows the
plants and gardens to get rest while they're waiting to do their thing.
Everyone up in the northeastern and Midwest got the winter weather
instead. Where I lived for five years, (Aurora, suburb of Denver)winter
storms after the first day of Spring were common. I remembered seeing
streets lined with good mature crab-apples and in full blossom, full of
bees and an hour later, eight inches of snow on them. (pictures too!)

But over the last six weeks, I've started and not finished several
rambles to all of my friends of the things that have unseasonably been
blooming TOO early. WAY too early. Before all seasonal hell broke loose
and we set record low temperatures for April for this region, I had
things blooming at the same time that were far advanced for when they
normally appeared.

Examples to follow and I'm sending this one out tonight! LOL When the
first cool snap came, we couldn't decide if it was a Redbud Winter, or a
Dogwood Winter. This being because ordinarily, first cold snap is
Redbud winter. Then afterwards, Dogwood Winter. Then followed by Locust
Winter, and lastly, Blackberry winter. THIS year, the red buds AND the
dogwoods were blooming at the same time......and in western Knoxville,
so were the Locust trees (honey locust trees, members of the Acacia
family). During this time, narcissus were blooming, hyacinths, tulips,
the larger variety of "snowdrop" (Leucojumm Gravetye Giant)my Pawlonia
tree was setting buds, the lilacs were budding in serious. The
Loripedilum 'Pizzazz' was blooming, the Diablo Nine bark was forming
it's buds...my Korean Spice Viburnum blew me away this year with 23
clusters of incredibly fragrant blossoms.

Both of the tree peonies were cranking out. The striped one (I can
never remember her name) was budded and fully open, and the pink one,
despite the hard freeze, seemed to shrug off the most damage. The huge
purplish one in the NSSG (not so secret garden)'Kamatanishiki'was
setting HUGE buds, and I relented and threw a sheet over the whole bush
and draped it over the railing on the nook's mini-deck to protect the
huge buds. Some of those buds were as large as golf balls on steroids!

All the Epimediums were blooming. The "taters" (bluebell hyacinthoides,
probably the non-scripta, the English Bluebells that fated back to 1580
and were brought over with the settlers because Bev's (Pottingshed)
bulbs came from Suffolk, Virginia. My Camassia's were up and opening,
the Jocelynne reblooming lilac was bud tight as well.

The shoots of the Frakartii aster were up five inches, the monarda's
were up and almost a foot tall. My "Cast iron, stainless steel walking
Nashville ferns" were unfurled and unrolling their hairy fronds. The
same for the Autumn ferns, the Japanese painted ferns, the Ghost ferns,
the tassle ferns, the Holly ferns, and the odd assorted ones that
promised to be hardy to as cold as zone 5. All the hosta's were poking
out, and Miz Mary's contribution from last year was not only poking out
of the soil, it was fully out and showing her leaves.

Jackmanii and the other assorted varieties of clematis were not only
making leaves and showing signs of tendrils, but fat hairy buds were
formed already, and in the Vitex tree, the white one was not only set,
but wanting to show herself. arghhhhhhhh! Underneath her skirts, the
dark hellebore was setting seeds, and the freckled ones already making
those funny little pods underneath the skirts.

Daylilies were up all over the place. The Quanzo had jumped out of the
Western bed and taunted me to lift them before they erased the path
between them and the BBQ pit Frog fountain. Inside the BBQ pit gardens,
sedums were unclenching their fists, fleshing out, the sempervivums were
bulking up and lifting their leaves and blushing.

Botanical tulips were wowing me, Jim Wheeler's lilac was fully open
(arghhh!!) and Miz Mary's dogwoods were gasp gasp BEAUTIOUS! How I
wished desperately she would be taken from the nursing home to see her
hill and her flowers.......her azalea's were blooming, tulips, candy
tuft, phlox. Everything all at once. It was scary.

I started seeing buds on the Acacia trees that line the upper portion of
the driveway that I have yet to sever a youngling from the parent roots.
The summac trees that I loathe were sending out leaves. My Sorbaria
was ferning leaves. The Lady Jane magnolia was fully opened and covered
in pink chalices. Zebrina sisters (Zebrina malvacea) were starting to
bulk up and fill out leaves. The assorted pots of everyone everywhere
were waking. Sedums, hidden bulbs, lilies were unfurling the silly
leaves that I still see as green newspaper trees.......Vinca everywhere
was blooming huge blue flowers. And both of the Kerria japonica's were
in bloom as well. I was distressed to the max. Then the HARD FREEZE came.

It looked like some insane lunatic fairy with a blow torch had gotten a
bent brain and gone berserk. We broke record lows for April. I've
lived 54 years and remember snow on dogwood blossoms before. But a
freeze of this kind in decades......well, the damage was complete.
Everything was resembling cooked turnip greens. And a week later, after
a gully washing rain that we desperately need more of because in the
middle of all this cold, we're experiencing rain deficiencies of over
six inches!

The temperatures now are leveling off for what's more normal for this
time of year. Finally. But the plants are all freaked out. The crape
myrtles look burnt. Literally. My ferns are fried and cooked looking.
I am seeing a few things slowly coming back, other things are poking up
like nothing happened (like the VINCA MAJOR..............)and the
Lamium, yellow archangel. The Heavy Metal grass is starting to send out
green shoots, I'm seeing blossoms on the Corydalis, daylily leaves have
burnt yellow splotches on them, and look like the fat fairy sat down on
all of them, and all the iris spikes are bent over with hump back
osteoporosis. (yes, I'd forgotten about the irises that were making
SHOOTS.....in March and early April? yes, I'm telling you it was two
months too soon around here!)

Tonight going home, I heard something that had suddenly silenced and I'd
not even noticed it until the other day. The area's of full chorus
joyous peepers was scary and still. Tonight it was PEEPERS again in full
throat. I so hope they're alright and just went back into an impromptu
slumber and are back in full throat. The birds are in full rut and
have been nesting for weeks now, but I see more signs of energies. The
ticks are back. They were dropping off the trees onto me four weeks
ago.....another too early sign......

As I careened at 90 mph backwards down my driveway (well, not THAT fast)
I slowed down and noticed that the Zebrina sisters were lining the
driveway and would soon need pinching back. This will be cool. The
vinca major is laughing maniacally and is rising to strangle the life
out of the trumpet vine. I still need a lawnmower to cut the weeds from
the paths of the boxes. My fig tree looks fried, but the hopes of two
crops of figs was foolish anyway. (I had FIGS already forming!
sigh..........) The honeybees are back, as are the bitches, those red
wasps with black wings and attitudes from Mafia hell......as are a few
wood boring bees. All the blossoms on the black cherry were burnt. As
were all the little clusters from my Cornelian Cherry. I don't mind,
but my young dogwood this year never gave me one blossom, while the red
Cherokee in back had 17! Being on the northern side of the house, it too
fried in the cold blast of 19o.

I still haven't gone outside and done a ramble and look see. I gaze
outside and see the 'Kamatanishiki tree peony in full regalia. Breath
taking. I'm glad I threw a sheet over her and the railing. The pink
one out front is done. I can now lift her and plant her next to
Kamatanishiki like I always wanted to. Tomorrow. Before the next rains
come. There are bare patches in the beds, and I am going to start again
to dig out wild onions and hope it's not alliums. And pull vinca vinca
vinca. I'm almost tempted to just cut it back instead. This cold even
nipped the hardy and tough common spurge (Euphorbia) and that takes some
COLD! And we've technically not had our "Blackberry winter"
yet........oy vey! Lets hope old man Winter is through slapping Mom's
Nature's Spring child around. We are in tornado season now after all. LOL

thanks for your patience with me. I've not put out the goldfish who are
incredible from coming inside for the winter (I spoil them) yet, the
frog BBQ pond is quiet, I only hope they are hunkered down and making
more tadpoles. I love them in all their ugliness....there are a lot of
things to try and accomplish and I'm still distracted and about to find
another job.....I need plant money!

I'll write another ramble soon as I see more signs of recovery.

madgardener, up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36

I can't write with your eloquence but I know of what you speak. I'm from
Kansas and the after affects of the hard freeze has made my yard/garden look
as if November is just around the corner. Even the iris, that can almost
always be counted on to put on a good show in this part of the country, are
brown and bedraggled looking. All in all it is the ugliest spring in my 57
year old memory. I don't say that lightly as spring is by far my most
favorite time of the year.

I spent part of the afternoon cutting back the Manhattan Euonymus. It
needed the trim before the freeze but I was also hoping it would eliminate
some of the brown foliage. Looks better I guess but still ugly. I doubt if
the Korean Spice Viburnum will bloom and most of the other early blooming
plants and shrubs had their blooming period cut short. The Juneberries and
Redbuds were in full bloom but now there are no blooms and nothing green. I
usually derive much pleasure in watching the rebirth of spring but not this
year.

"madgardener" wrote in message
...
I have been trying, TRYING to write to my garden neighbors now for
WEEKS. It has been extremely trying for me to accomplish this.
Apparently Mom's Nature and Old Man Winter have been going at it hammer
and tongs. Living like I do back here in Fairy Holler up on this ridge
in a micro-climate of growing zone 7 (meaning the temperatures are
mostly kind and not below 10o F. too often in winter time) winter tried
to grip us a few times, and I have to admit I actually wanted some
serious winter weather. Snow, freezes, all that stuff that allows the
plants and gardens to get rest while they're waiting to do their thing.
Everyone up in the northeastern and Midwest got the winter weather
instead. Where I lived for five years, (Aurora, suburb of Denver)winter
storms after the first day of Spring were common. I remembered seeing
streets lined with good mature crab-apples and in full blossom, full of
bees and an hour later, eight inches of snow on them. (pictures too!)

But over the last six weeks, I've started and not finished several
rambles to all of my friends of the things that have unseasonably been
blooming TOO early. WAY too early. Before all seasonal hell broke loose
and we set record low temperatures for April for this region, I had
things blooming at the same time that were far advanced for when they
normally appeared.

Examples to follow and I'm sending this one out tonight! LOL When the
first cool snap came, we couldn't decide if it was a Redbud Winter, or a
Dogwood Winter. This being because ordinarily, first cold snap is
Redbud winter. Then afterwards, Dogwood Winter. Then followed by Locust
Winter, and lastly, Blackberry winter. THIS year, the red buds AND the
dogwoods were blooming at the same time......and in western Knoxville,
so were the Locust trees (honey locust trees, members of the Acacia
family). During this time, narcissus were blooming, hyacinths, tulips,
the larger variety of "snowdrop" (Leucojumm Gravetye Giant)my Pawlonia
tree was setting buds, the lilacs were budding in serious. The
Loripedilum 'Pizzazz' was blooming, the Diablo Nine bark was forming
it's buds...my Korean Spice Viburnum blew me away this year with 23
clusters of incredibly fragrant blossoms.

Both of the tree peonies were cranking out. The striped one (I can
never remember her name) was budded and fully open, and the pink one,
despite the hard freeze, seemed to shrug off the most damage. The huge
purplish one in the NSSG (not so secret garden)'Kamatanishiki'was
setting HUGE buds, and I relented and threw a sheet over the whole bush
and draped it over the railing on the nook's mini-deck to protect the
huge buds. Some of those buds were as large as golf balls on steroids!

All the Epimediums were blooming. The "taters" (bluebell hyacinthoides,
probably the non-scripta, the English Bluebells that fated back to 1580
and were brought over with the settlers because Bev's (Pottingshed)
bulbs came from Suffolk, Virginia. My Camassia's were up and opening,
the Jocelynne reblooming lilac was bud tight as well.

The shoots of the Frakartii aster were up five inches, the monarda's
were up and almost a foot tall. My "Cast iron, stainless steel walking
Nashville ferns" were unfurled and unrolling their hairy fronds. The
same for the Autumn ferns, the Japanese painted ferns, the Ghost ferns,
the tassle ferns, the Holly ferns, and the odd assorted ones that
promised to be hardy to as cold as zone 5. All the hosta's were poking
out, and Miz Mary's contribution from last year was not only poking out
of the soil, it was fully out and showing her leaves.

Jackmanii and the other assorted varieties of clematis were not only
making leaves and showing signs of tendrils, but fat hairy buds were
formed already, and in the Vitex tree, the white one was not only set,
but wanting to show herself. arghhhhhhhh! Underneath her skirts, the
dark hellebore was setting seeds, and the freckled ones already making
those funny little pods underneath the skirts.

Daylilies were up all over the place. The Quanzo had jumped out of the
Western bed and taunted me to lift them before they erased the path
between them and the BBQ pit Frog fountain. Inside the BBQ pit gardens,
sedums were unclenching their fists, fleshing out, the sempervivums were
bulking up and lifting their leaves and blushing.

Botanical tulips were wowing me, Jim Wheeler's lilac was fully open
(arghhh!!) and Miz Mary's dogwoods were gasp gasp BEAUTIOUS! How I wished
desperately she would be taken from the nursing home to see her hill and
her flowers.......her azalea's were blooming, tulips, candy tuft, phlox.
Everything all at once. It was scary.

I started seeing buds on the Acacia trees that line the upper portion of
the driveway that I have yet to sever a youngling from the parent roots.
The summac trees that I loathe were sending out leaves. My Sorbaria was
ferning leaves. The Lady Jane magnolia was fully opened and covered in
pink chalices. Zebrina sisters (Zebrina malvacea) were starting to bulk up
and fill out leaves. The assorted pots of everyone everywhere were
waking. Sedums, hidden bulbs, lilies were unfurling the silly leaves that
I still see as green newspaper trees.......Vinca everywhere was blooming
huge blue flowers. And both of the Kerria japonica's were in bloom as
well. I was distressed to the max. Then the HARD FREEZE came.

It looked like some insane lunatic fairy with a blow torch had gotten a
bent brain and gone berserk. We broke record lows for April. I've lived
54 years and remember snow on dogwood blossoms before. But a freeze of
this kind in decades......well, the damage was complete. Everything was
resembling cooked turnip greens. And a week later, after a gully washing
rain that we desperately need more of because in the middle of all this
cold, we're experiencing rain deficiencies of over six inches!

The temperatures now are leveling off for what's more normal for this time
of year. Finally. But the plants are all freaked out. The crape myrtles
look burnt. Literally. My ferns are fried and cooked looking. I am seeing
a few things slowly coming back, other things are poking up like nothing
happened (like the VINCA MAJOR..............)and the Lamium, yellow
archangel. The Heavy Metal grass is starting to send out green shoots,
I'm seeing blossoms on the Corydalis, daylily leaves have burnt yellow
splotches on them, and look like the fat fairy sat down on all of them,
and all the iris spikes are bent over with hump back osteoporosis. (yes,
I'd forgotten about the irises that were making SHOOTS.....in March and
early April? yes, I'm telling you it was two months too soon around
here!)

Tonight going home, I heard something that had suddenly silenced and I'd
not even noticed it until the other day. The area's of full chorus joyous
peepers was scary and still. Tonight it was PEEPERS again in full throat.
I so hope they're alright and just went back into an impromptu slumber and
are back in full throat. The birds are in full rut and have been nesting
for weeks now, but I see more signs of energies. The ticks are back. They
were dropping off the trees onto me four weeks ago.....another too early
sign......

As I careened at 90 mph backwards down my driveway (well, not THAT fast) I
slowed down and noticed that the Zebrina sisters were lining the driveway
and would soon need pinching back. This will be cool. The vinca major is
laughing maniacally and is rising to strangle the life out of the trumpet
vine. I still need a lawnmower to cut the weeds from the paths of the
boxes. My fig tree looks fried, but the hopes of two crops of figs was
foolish anyway. (I had FIGS already forming! sigh..........) The
honeybees are back, as are the bitches, those red wasps with black wings
and attitudes from Mafia hell......as are a few wood boring bees. All the
blossoms on the black cherry were burnt. As were all the little clusters
from my Cornelian Cherry. I don't mind, but my young dogwood this year
never gave me one blossom, while the red Cherokee in back had 17! Being on
the northern side of the house, it too fried in the cold blast of 19o.

I still haven't gone outside and done a ramble and look see. I gaze
outside and see the 'Kamatanishiki tree peony in full regalia. Breath
taking. I'm glad I threw a sheet over her and the railing. The pink one
out front is done. I can now lift her and plant her next to Kamatanishiki
like I always wanted to. Tomorrow. Before the next rains come. There are
bare patches in the beds, and I am going to start again to dig out wild
onions and hope it's not alliums. And pull vinca vinca vinca. I'm almost
tempted to just cut it back instead. This cold even nipped the hardy and
tough common spurge (Euphorbia) and that takes some COLD! And we've
technically not had our "Blackberry winter" yet........oy vey! Lets hope
old man Winter is through slapping Mom's Nature's Spring child around. We
are in tornado season now after all. LOL

thanks for your patience with me. I've not put out the goldfish who are
incredible from coming inside for the winter (I spoil them) yet, the frog
BBQ pond is quiet, I only hope they are hunkered down and making more
tadpoles. I love them in all their ugliness....there are a lot of things
to try and accomplish and I'm still distracted and about to find another
job.....I need plant money!

I'll write another ramble soon as I see more signs of recovery.

madgardener, up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36