The snow is finally melting in my part of the world, after an intensely hyped \u201cblizzard\u201d ten days ago.\u00a0 Gardeners are emerging from their lairs and approaching their beds, borders and overwintered containers with low expectations.\u00a0 After an \u201copen\u201d winter, with fairly reasonable temperatures and almost no snow, we were hit with a series of March surprises that included freezing winds, snow, sleet and all manner of \u201cwintery mix\u201d.\u00a0 That fusillade of stormy weather roared in and subdued shrubs that had broken dormancy at the end of February, daffodils that were up and waiting to open and hellebores in full bloom.<\/p>\n
There is only one word for the appearance of gardens in my neighborhood right now\u2014\u201csad\u201d.\u00a0 Horticulturally-minded people have put down their garden catalogs and put on their garden clogs, muttering, \u201cWhat next?\u201d<\/p>\n
The best thing to do if you have been hit by wild, late winter\/early spring weather is to take a little tour of your home landscape.\u00a0 If the thought of that makes you depressed, wait for the first sunny day.\u00a0 You and your plants will both perk up.\u00a0 You are likely to discover the following:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Early spring bloomers<\/strong>\u2014The key word here is \u201cresilience\u201d.\u00a0 Daffodils and their fellow travelers, like crocus, snowdrops and even hellebores, are about as delicate as a herd of oxen.\u00a0 Plants that were already blooming when the snows hit may look a little the worse for wear, but most of the blooms will perk up when the weather clears.\u00a0 Hellebores will hold onto their petals for several more weeks at the very least.\u00a0 Daffodils may be droopy, but will raise their golden heads when they sense the reappearance of sunlight and more seasonal temperatures.\u00a0 In short, you don\u2019t have to worry about the earliest plants.\u00a0 They are hard-wired to take wintery surprises.<\/p>\n Late spring flowers\u2014<\/strong>Tulips, late daffodils and perennials, like bleeding heart, that appear in their company, may be a little delayed, but will most likely show up in all their glory.\u00a0 If the delay means that the scenery in your garden is a bit sparse, fill in with purchased pansies.\u00a0 Your local garden center, which was also hit hard by the cold snap, will be grateful for your business.<\/p>\n Flowering Shrubs\u2014<\/strong>If you have old-fashioned \u201cmophead\u201d type hydrangeas\u2014Hydrangea macrophylla\u2014you may have to get through another summer without flowers.\u00a0 The buds were already beginning to swell in my neighborhood, when the cold, stormy weather came down upon us.\u00a0 On older hydrangea varieties like \u2018Nikko Blue\u2019, those buds would have given rise to this year\u2019s flowers.\u00a0 Instead they probably froze.<\/p>\n Other shrubs\u2019 progress may depend on where they are located in your property, how hardy the flower buds are and whether the individual species and variety blooms on old wood, new wood or both.\u00a0 My flowering quince is huge and I had high hopes for a bumper crop of pinky-white blossoms.\u00a0 My post-storm garden inspection tour revealed that the buds, which are normally greenish pink right now, have turned brown.\u00a0 This does not bode well.<\/p>\n I take comfort in the fact that my summer blooming butterfly bushes\u2014Buddleia davidii\u2014will be just fine.\u00a0 They are in need of pruning, which I can do now, cutting them back to about 18 inches tall.\u00a0 They won\u2019t replace the lost hydrangeas, but will encourage me, the butterflies and hummingbirds when the time comes.<\/p>\n Roses: <\/strong>My roses had broken dormancy and were beginning to leaf out when the bad weather struck.\u00a0 Now, those young leaves are curled and brown.\u00a0 Fortunately, roses are masters of regeneration.\u00a0 I will prune back the canes by one third to stimulate regrowth and take extra care to mulch and fertilize.\u00a0 The first flowers may well be late this year, but the roses will recover.<\/p>\n Flowering Trees: <\/strong>The national news has been full of dire tidings about Washington D.C.\u2019s fabled cherry blossoms and the fact that the winter storms may have killed the flower buds.\u00a0 Flowering cherries and other species in the Northeast generally lag about a month behind those in D.C. and may bloom well this year.\u00a0 I have high hopes that my little Carolina silverbell tree, which has produced an abundance of white \u201cbells\u201d every year, will come through once again.\u00a0 For some species, it is simply too early to tell.<\/p>\n So what can you do, besides muttering darkly about weather?\u00a0 Go about your garden clean-up, watch the changes in your plants day to day and prepare to prune shrubs and trees more thoroughly than usual.\u00a0 Wind, ice and heavy snow wreak havoc with branches, causing a lot of weather-related dieback.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be too quick to remove shrubs and plants that appear to be doing nothing.\u00a0 Some plants just take their time after a bout of bad weather.\u00a0 A little patience is better for the garden and your back than a lot of plant removal.<\/p>\n If this is the year when your shrubs and perennials turn in lackluster performances due to the ravages of early spring, maybe it is also the year to invest in lots of annuals to brighten up the planting scheme.\u00a0 The great gardeners, like English maven Gertrude Jekyll, have always been adept at filling \u201choles\u201d in the landscape with pots of annuals that can be changed out when the flowers fade.\u00a0 You can also compensate for Nature\u2019s heavy blows by trying something new.\u00a0 One of the modern everblooming hydrangeas might be just the thing to restore your spirits and your garden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The snow is finally melting in my part of the world, after an intensely hyped \u201cblizzard\u201d ten days ago.\u00a0 Gardeners are emerging from their lairs and approaching their beds, borders and overwintered containers with low expectations.\u00a0 After an \u201copen\u201d winter, with fairly reasonable temperatures and almost no snow, we were hit with a series of … Read 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