I just saw on the beeb 1 o'clock that it's officially the coldest spring
in 50 years. I'm not surprised, I was thinking of posting about the cold
this morning. I don't think we've had more that 3 days where it hit 16
(although we did have 1 day that reached 19!) and many nights into the
low single digits. 6 last night, balmy! It feels like late February to
us.

Many plants have wilty vegetation, there hasn't been enough sun and
warmth to justify fanning out leaves. Some of the Japanese maples, that
have been out for 5 weeks, still look like only a few days have passed
since leaf out. What's more, a lot of leaves are getting black around
the edges (too much water, not enough sun) or wilting back, and many
seedlings have damped off.

Roll on summer...

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

I was in Leicester in 1962/3. The Frost came on Boxing Day 1962. The
temperature dropped to below freezing and didn't rise above freezing until
Easter 1963.

Mike



"Martin" wrote in message
...

On 30 May 2013 13:36:39 GMT, Emery Davis
wrote:

I just saw on the beeb 1 o'clock that it's officially the coldest spring
in 50 years. I'm not surprised, I was thinking of posting about the cold
this morning. I don't think we've had more that 3 days where it hit 16
(although we did have 1 day that reached 19!) and many nights into the
low single digits. 6 last night, balmy! It feels like late February to
us.

Many plants have wilty vegetation, there hasn't been enough sun and
warmth to justify fanning out leaves. Some of the Japanese maples, that
have been out for 5 weeks, still look like only a few days have passed
since leaf out. What's more, a lot of leaves are getting black around
the edges (too much water, not enough sun) or wilting back, and many
seedlings have damped off.

Roll on summer...

Don't blink.

From what I recall of 1963 it was cold until Easter and then it was
warm.
--

Martin in Zuid Holland

On 30/05/2013 14:36, Emery Davis wrote:

Many plants have wilty vegetation, there hasn't been enough sun and
warmth to justify fanning out leaves. Some of the Japanese maples, that
have been out for 5 weeks, still look like only a few days have passed
since leaf out. What's more, a lot of leaves are getting black around
the edges (too much water, not enough sun) or wilting back, and many
seedlings have damped off.

Yes, was looking at a small (75cm) A. palmatum Beni Schishihenge (what
is the correct spelling?) this afternoon on an east-facing fence. One
branch covered in wilted, black-edged leaves. Rest of the plant is ok
at the moment. Yet a much larger (2m) Shindeshojo has been superb,
without a single damaged leaf. It is a couple of metres from a
south-facing wall, on a raised bed. So I reckon you are spot on - not
enough sun. Mind you, if and when the sun does come out, I'll have to
keep the Shindeshojo well-watered.

Roll on summer...

Just some prolonged sunshine would do. I'm waiting for the first
scientific paper to report on a plant suffering from SAD...

--

Jeff

On Thu, 30 May 2013 19:04:33 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

Yes, was looking at a small (75cm) A. palmatum Beni Schishihenge (what
is the correct spelling?) this afternoon on an east-facing fence. One

Close! Beni shichihenge. The trend now (haven't really adopted it) is to
add the hyphen, making Beni-shichihenge. Your spelling is listed as a
common variant in the texts. It means "red and changeful" apparently.

branch covered in wilted, black-edged leaves. Rest of the plant is ok
at the moment. Yet a much larger (2m) Shindeshojo has been superb,
without a single damaged leaf. It is a couple of metres from a
south-facing wall, on a raised bed. So I reckon you are spot on - not
enough sun. Mind you, if and when the sun does come out, I'll have to
keep the Shindeshojo well-watered.

I have a Shin chishio, which is very similar (but maybe not quite as
bright) as Shin deshojo. I bought one of these and it turned out to be a
simple Deshojo, and it is nothing particularly special in spring. The
snails really love Shin chishio, they completely denuded it last year.

You might want to treat with a fungicide, the black leaves can be serious
for a small plant.




--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 30/05/2013 19:04, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 30/05/2013 14:36, Emery Davis wrote:

Many plants have wilty vegetation, there hasn't been enough sun and
warmth to justify fanning out leaves. Some of the Japanese maples, that
have been out for 5 weeks, still look like only a few days have passed
since leaf out. What's more, a lot of leaves are getting black around
the edges (too much water, not enough sun) or wilting back, and many
seedlings have damped off.

Yes, was looking at a small (75cm) A. palmatum Beni Schishihenge (what
is the correct spelling?) this afternoon on an east-facing fence. One
branch covered in wilted, black-edged leaves. Rest of the plant is ok
at the moment. Yet a much larger (2m) Shindeshojo has been superb,
without a single damaged leaf. It is a couple of metres from a
south-facing wall, on a raised bed. So I reckon you are spot on - not
enough sun. Mind you, if and when the sun does come out, I'll have to
keep the Shindeshojo well-watered.

Roll on summer...

Just some prolonged sunshine would do. I'm waiting for the first
scientific paper to report on a plant suffering from SAD...

But they do, Singed And Dying

On 30/05/2013 19:40, Emery Davis wrote:
On Thu, 30 May 2013 19:04:33 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

Yes, was looking at a small (75cm) A. palmatum Beni Schishihenge (what
is the correct spelling?) this afternoon on an east-facing fence. One
branch covered in wilted, black-edged leaves. Rest of the plant is ok

You might want to treat with a fungicide, the black leaves can be serious
for a small plant.

Thanks for the advice - I've got some fungicide somewhere which might be
suitable. In the meantime - rightly or wrongly - I've removed all the
affected leaves (less than 20% of the plant). I'm hoping that dormant
buds will break when the sun comes out (if the sun comes out...).

--

Jeff