Fatalities - not too bad!

16 years ago

I thought this would be a really bad year for losses - when the temperatures were at their coldest, my plants had no snow cover. So I figured I'd be bawling my eyes out right about now.

It seems I lost my Dicentra formosa this winter. It was a really nice big plant and I've had it for several years :-(. I also lost my Eryngium, but that's not bothering me so much - now I can justify getting one of those new really blue ones. The squirrels killed about half of my Sempervivums (including my beautiful red one - grrr...), and they also killed almost all of my brown Ajuga. Bloody beasts!!!

A couple of things have yet to show signs of life above ground, but when I popped the plants out of their pots, the roots look good - they're still waking up.

My new prizes from last year are all up and growing nicely. The Astilboides tabularis looks to have a couple of new big shoots emerging and my 'Brunette' Actaea/cimicifuga is obviously bigger.

And I found a very strange volunteer today. I have tried to overwinter lemon balm a good half a dozen times and never once have I succeeded. I didn't even try to protect my big pot of it this winter, and of course it died. So what do I see peeking out of a pot of Aquilegia? A toonie sized patch of lemon balm!

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Comments (12)

greylady_gardener
16 years ago
Bonnie, I usually have lemon balm seedlings coming up everywhere! It is a good reseeder! :)
What do I see coming up in several pots out the back??---columbine! Tiny little seedlings coming up in pots that were just sitting in a group. It will be interesting to see what colour they are.
It seems I lost my hellebore. I just got it last year! :(
I am hoping that it is too soon to tell about some of the other things that aren't showing yet.
gg
cookie8
16 years ago
Not sure what I lost because I can't distinguish between a weed and a plant! I hope I find someone in the neighbourhood who can help me out.
I may have lost a PeeGee Hydrangea I transplanted last fall. I snapped a twig and it sounded pretty crisp!
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bonniepunch
Original Author
16 years ago
GG - there's something about lemon balm and me. I've never even had it reseed. I don't know why I've been cursed, but that's one of the few plants I reliable can't overwinter!

cookie - when did you transplant it? Moving or dividing anything in the fall can be risky if you do it too late. It causes a growth spurt, and if this happens when the plant should be winding down and getting ready for winter, then there is a much higher chance the plant won't make it. But don't give up yet - you may just have some dieback of the branch tips.

As to how to tell the difference between a weed and a plant - sometimes it's not so easy!! Partly you just learn what specific plants look like as they emerge, but also if you kept weeds to a minimum last year, the new weeds will be much more spindly and fragile looking than your established plants.

BP
cookie8
16 years ago
Thanks Bonnie. My neighbour came over to help identify alot of things for me. A lot more weeds than I was expecting so I have a busy weekend planned. She also mentioned the hydrangea buds later so be patient, so I will be. It was probably transplanted in mid-late September.
sunita_fleuriste
16 years ago
I lost my Magnolia :-( It was small...only about 18 inches but looked good. I transplanted it late in the season...big mistake I guess.
Plus one of my roses looks dead...funny thing is...the one that was there last year didn t overwinter either...haha maybe that spot s cursed!
Everything else is coming up fine...I m surprised actually...it was a hard winter!

S
cannazone5
16 years ago
I splurged & planted dozens of Icicle/Polar Pansies last fall and about half of them are nowhere to be found! Not sure if they shriveled and decomposed under the weight of all the snow I shoveled or if a squirrel or rabbit had a feast (if they like pansies, that is).

I thought I'd lose my new Japanese Maple that I planted early summer because the burlap collapsed early in the winter and I never replaced it (I hate the cold!) but BUDS ARE SHOWING!!!!

I stupidly moved a hydrangea on the hottest day of the year and it then lost all its leaves and looked completely dead amidst all the color of my annuals. My husband argued that we should dig it out and replace it but I refused. I was determined to give my baby one more spring to show me it was a survivor. YEAH!!!!! It's got buds too!
tiffy_z5_6_can
16 years ago
I lost 2 out of 5 Blue Poppies. :O( I've been crying in a fetal position for the lat few days... If my winter sown ones from this year germinate, I'll come back to life...
tiffy_z5_6_can
16 years ago
I've come back to life!!!! There's major germination in one out of six containers of the Meconopsis Benotifolia. Hooray!!
greylady_gardener
16 years ago
Good to hear, Tiffy! :)Sure hated to think of you laying there crying!
gg
bonniepunch
Original Author
16 years ago
Good for the blue poppies!

It seems I was a bit premature on my Astilboides - this morning I discovered the damn squirrels had chewed off the three shoots that were emerging. I was so mad I could barely see! It's my own fault too - I had been worried about the squirrels damaging them, so I had been covering them at night, and I *forgot* last night! Aaaaauuuuuggggghhhh!!!

BP
tiffy_z5_6_can
16 years ago
gg, Actually I felt so sad I winter sowed 40 more containers of annuals that day. :O)

BP, Probably jinxing myself here, but the squirrels have never done anything I've noticed to my gardens. I do have feeders out for the birds which the squirrels lunch at and think that makes a difference. The population of them here is not massive and seems to stay at a good level with the help of a couple of hawks in the neighbourhood.

If they did start at my plants I don't know what I would do. I'd be madder than he!! Hope your Astiboides comes back.
bonniepunch
Original Author
16 years ago
Tiffy - the squirrels here are sooooo different from the little red guys you have back in NS. In this area we have grey squirrels - they're huge compared to the red ones, they're so much more aggressive and they have two litters a year instead of the one litter the red ones have. They have adapted and thrive in cities (the red ones do not tolerate their habitat being destroyed and live in cities only in small numbers) and their numbers get so dense they are starving and desperate - they'll eat anything that doesn't bite back. I hate them!! In every area they have been introduced to, they displace the red squirrels and take over. Stupid beasts!

I'm sure my Astilboides will come back, but the first leaves to emerge would have been the biggest. So it probably won't be as neat as it could have been, and I'll have to rig up a protective cover for the other leaves as they emerge. I have had success keeping the tree rats from eating my alliums and lilies with a paste made from vaseline and blood meal, so I'll try it on the Astilboides as well.

I hope you get more germination of your poppies! One out of six is better than none, but it would be nicer to have more since they seem to have a high fatality rate!

BP