Yes the Hydrangeas got set back badly, especially the macrophyllas or mopheads that bloom on old wood. My paniculatas are growing fine. I expect them to flower as usual. I had a knockout that I literally had to cut in half this Spring, but it has blooms now. The Peonies have been fine here. Do you have a picture of that Grootendorst rugosa? I'd love to see both the blooms and the habit. It sounds like a great plant.

Steve

One hydrangea was killed to the ground (variegated lacecap) but the serrata 'Blue Billow' is normal. Peonies and most roses seem normal.

The worst damage I had was from pitch pine limbs dropping on top of plants. One rose got flattened and some hollies lost some branches. I amputated the rose (Carefree Beauty) and it's coming back well. I tried splinting the holly branches but it doesn't seem to have been successful. A limb fell on a rhododendron, which survived, and a big chunk of birch split and fell.

In general the damage was probably limited by the fact that we had a lot of snow cover, which is unusual for here. The garden usually faces fierce winter winds with minimal snow cover, just lots of mulch. In that sense this winter was just not devastating for plants that stay close to the ground.

It was trees dropping on them that caused most of the damage.

Claire

My peonies are all blooming with plentiful flowers, the mock orange is covered in blooms & the Siberian iris have been spectacular. I don't grow roses but other than the loss of some short-lived perennials, the garden is looking quite lush. I don't really mind losing the perennials--they were all winter sown from seed so not a huge hit to the wallet. Gave me an excuse to order longer-lived plants from Santa Rosa Gardens' summer sale.

Hostas are super-sized again this year.

I haven't taken a good look to see if there are any flower buds on mine yet. I believe all of mine bloom on old and new wood. I have 'Endless Summer', 'Madame Emile Mouillere', and 'All Summer's Beauty'. Since the new growth was coming back from the base I took the opportunity to move three of them and pruned them back to the base. I hope I will still see a few blooms this summer.

Yes, my hydrangeas all suffered in this winter ... the old growth buds were blasted by the winter winds. New growth has come out from the base but the rest is just brittle sticks.

The most tragic loss was my Pieris 'Dorothy Wyckoff' ...it blew over during a late-winter wind storm. We found it on the ground with the roots exposed. Don't know how long these were uncovered but after digging a new hole and replanting it, the poor thing just browned up. I cut it way back but it did not survive. A trip to the Broken Arrow is in my future. (I loved that shrub!)

Some of the top growth on my clematis planted around the garden shed was also destroyed in the winds so it blossomed only at the bottom. I cut all the dead wood off, and these will come back.

I think the greatest damage, though, was to my gardening spirit. This was a miserable winter followed by a weird spring. Spring? What Spring? All the chores I like to do in March and April were set aside because of cold weather. May wasn't so great, either. And now it's June and unusually rainy with more rain today. In fact, the river is now a lake. Can't catch a break this year.

Molie

Steve,
I took this picture last night - it's not in full bloom yet. The flowers look like little carnations. No scent, no hips either.

Chardie, all my rugosas (incl. the 6 ft. tall red Grootendurst) are blooming like crazy. But my mophead hydrangeas are dead sticks with lots of new live leaves growing from the bases. I lost a gardenia bush but the 8" high fig tree is sprouting well. So it's a mixed bag of delight and despair -- the usual springtime assessment for a gardener.

Carol