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April madness and Spring tantrums
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 |
#2
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April madness and Spring tantrums
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 |
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