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| Malus 'Prairiefire' (note the frost on the lawn) |
Back in March, when the temperature soared into the 80s for days on end, I could not enjoy it. I knew, from years of living in Northern Illinois, that no matter how warm March may be, there will always be a freeze in April. And so I waited for the other shoe to drop. Weeks passed, plants continued to grow and bloom, albeit at a slower pace once the weather returned to normal. Then it came, the hard freeze with a frost.
Of course I protected the tree peony (
Paeonia suffruticosa).
I finally found just the thing for protecting it, the Shrub Guard. The tree peony is now so big, it needs two of them. At left, a
Clematis is also covered. That was a mistake. I'm quite surprised at the resilience of
Clematis buds.
These unprotected buds were unscathed. I should have used the shrub bag to protect the two Golden Spirit smokebushes (
Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot') instead.
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| after the frost |
Nearly all of the newest leaves and the flower buds got zapped. This is what it's supposed to look like.
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| before the frost |
Just another lesson courtesy of the School of Hard Knocks. These shrubs are in the front, unprotected by trees. A
Hydrangea in front also suffered damage. In a similar vein, the buds on the covered portions of a
Calycanthus floridus 'Athens' were fine, while the uncovered portions were not. Now I know, in case of a late freeze, cover the
Calycanthus, the
Cotinus and the mop-headed hydrangeas, not the
Clematis.
Other buds and blooms that survived the frost include the crabapple pictured at top, the
Tiarellas
and
Polemium reptans 'Stairway to Heaven'.
Another freeze is forecast for tonight. I'm armed with Shrub Guard bags and increased knowledge. I am undaunted.
8 comments:
It's hard to decide which things to cover~We have a a frost warning for tomorrow morning. Lovely photos Barb.
Shrub guards. What a great idea. I am setting out row covers for vegetable beds today.
The garden is a classroom 24/7 isn't it?
Glad so much is OK!
I've watched the forecast very carefully too. I'm in northwest Arkansas so we don't always have a frost in late April but we do often enough to pay attention. It feels like late May here - my lilies that usually bloom in June are covered in buds!
We've had the fluctuations, but perhaps not to the same extremes. However, I did pass a lot of sadly frizzled magnolias on my walk tonight. Too big for shrub guards, unfortunately. Your garden looks lovely, despite it all.
I'm glad to know the clematis doesn't need protecting, because I forgot to cover it last night. I'm moving slow this morning so I haven't been out to assess last night's damage yet--it got down to 27 degrees. I've got my fingers crossed nothing got zapped too bad, thought I can see the tulips drooping from my kitchen window.
You are so right, MMD; I knew that shoe was going to drop sometime soon, too.
Hi Barbara,
I am totally frustrated with this frost situation. I think I did nore damage with the sheets than the frost did. You are right about the clematis, comes through fine.
Eileen
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