Was it a bad winter for anyone else?

14 years ago

I think it was a horrible winter, plant-wise. I had so many plants die. Iris (which I thought were nearly impossible to kill), a few daylilies, my peonies have just been abysmal. My hostas look like crap, too. Although not all of my plants did bad. It is rather sporadic throughout my yard. I was talking to my neighbors and a few others in the area here in Spirit Lake and have heard similar stories. I was just curious if anyone else had experienced the same thing.

Some of the iris I had die were ones I have had for years and years - my mother planted them when I was a child, and they survived those winters where we had -20Â° as the actual temp for weeks at a time. I thought we had plenty of snow for protection. I know the temperature flucuated a great deal.

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Comments (6)

Karen Pease
14 years ago
My sequoias seem to be alive, but they're refusing to leave dormancy.

Haven't noticed anything else out of the ordinary.
tannabanana
14 years ago
Sorry for you losses! I did not lose any plants this last winter although I was thinking my butterfly bushes were going to be toast when the temps hit those record lows. I divided my irises last year and only 3 out of 20 bloomed - not sure why.

Anyway, I know it is hard to lose plants - especially sentimental ones.
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SirMatthew
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Karen and tannabanana. It IS hard to lose plants that you've had for ages.

When I divide my iris, sometimes they don't do so well if I do it too late. I usually do it in August and then use a 0-10-10 fertlizer.
ditas
14 years ago
I join tannabanana in extending sympathy on your loses, particularly those close to our hearts! Â:(

I just was doing a review of my garden woes & surprises as Spring is coming to an end when I saw your post ... trying to figure out last Winter, her ++ & -- ... very mixed, was my conclusion! Mama Nature always has the upper hand ... what she takes with one hand, she coddles with the other!

I too, thought both of my Butterfly B went to heaven, later than their late nature, 2 little stems, quite a distance from the original clump, finally greened up & is branching slowly, Clethra/16 Candles only 2 branches leafed out ... even the indestructible, 36' long-retaining-wall, of very old Baltic Ivy looked so pathetic, it was a feat, pruning & clearing much of the dead, very long vines - I've never had to do this in the past ... & yet the other half (40' long ret. wall) with much younger, slowly crawling Climbing Hydrangea didn't think last Winter was an issue & goes about her way!

The colonies of Hostas - hailed those early days of Spring, so I thought, but disappointed at discovering several, attacked by HVX (diagnosed by an expert) - had to dig up & destroy ... I've grown, divided, shared them for at least 25 years ... not the fault of the past Winter ... where HVX came from is ??? a few are still under observation!

Of my painfully, Winterized Hydrangea Serratas & Nikko Blue showed no old cane survival ... my surprise 7 out of 8 are sporting bloom clusters (including 1 variety I was told by an expert may not bloom in our zone) - can't wait to see how the blooms would compare to last season ... a banner year! The Endless S & Forever & E that should bloom on new canes, are slow coming compared to last season. (Except 1) hardy H paniculatas & H quercifolias are all late showing clusters compared to previous years as well.

Lavender clumps (protected with leaves) - lost 1, half nearly died the other half are more beautiful than ever ... I was even able to separate from mother plant a couple of rooted branches I pinned to the ground a couple of yrs ago. Iris had less blooms, Stellas grew like monsters ... would you believe that I almost lost Mint & Sage but a Heuchera that over-wintered in a pot forgotten out there, is as beautiful as all others in ground ... all but 3 of 12 Mums gone! Â:(

I know we've had quite a number of fluctuating temps & less than ideal snow-cover for our garden beauties ... the last was baffling! ... Tiny foliage-eating-bugs are a Spring woes for another thread - with all these days of rain!!! Â:(

Good gardening just the same ... I'm making lemonade with Ma Nature's gifts & thanking Her for the surprises! Â;) Sorry, so long response!
ditas
14 years ago
Hi -
Apparently we have every reason to have observed disastrous effect of last Winter. The Metro-Iowa section of DMR printed an article addressing this very issue "Harsh winter leaves mark on flowers, trees crops" by Tom Alex.

Along with the winter kill that makes recovery such a struggle for the hardiest, dependables/reliables ... also this Spring, ... observing garden allies &/or pesky pests leaving curious looking deposits on some of my garden beauty foliage! Â:( I'm glad I learned about the Cornell Univ ext. svc. formula for home-mixed soap-spray to save $$$! Â;)

Both of my Butterfly Bushes off shoots (both a ft away from original clump) are now grown to 1.5' & branching out well. All 27 different Hydrangeas survived w/ mixed responses to past winter's effects!

Now that summer is here, things will start looking better!!! Happy gardening! Â;)
Karen Pease
14 years ago
Yeah, no kidding that summer is "here". I was out trying to weed at 8:00PM yesterday (right before the tornado sirens), and was drenched in sweat after just a couple minutes. :P

The plants are growing like weeds, of course... I wish I had their heat/humidity tolerance! ;)