It’s been a tough winter, the toughest in a couple of decades. More than 100 inches of snow fell on the garden this year. And temps hovered around zero degrees Fahrenheit for too many weeks. Snow can protect perennials and I’m confident that most of the plants in the gardens survived the winter. But the bitter cold has taken a toll. One of the dwarf alberta spruces in the entrance garden is showing winter burn damage. It’s too soon to tell whether the bush will fill in a bit. This will be an issue of disguising damage rather than any hope of regrowth. Dwarf albertas do not “repair” burn damage. The boxwoods got burned, too, but I am less concerned about that. I’ll trim the burnt ends and the hedge will be none the worse.
Also damaged were a couple of holly bushes. These I am even less concerned about. There never thrived where they were planted, and, truth to tell, if they had thrived, they would be a problem. So, I might just use this as an excuse to pull them out. My guess is that I have a friend who will give them a good home. But it isn’t all sad news for the garden. Lots of things are starting to poke their heads above ground. And I even spotted a wayward crocus blooming. This is a volunteer or, perhaps, a remnant from long gone days before my gardens went in. And the day lilies are coming up. So, in a few weeks, everything will have filled in. And, I’ll be able to finish the pathways. How I have been looking forward to that!
Also coming up are the dicentras. In a few weeks those lovely branches full of pink hearts will arch gracefully.
Garden 337 