I hate the plants that can survive a cold winter but can’t take a hard spring frost. It is so aggravating! The problem is they emerge too early from dormancy for their own good. I’m talking about:

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  April 29, 2006. Endless Summer hydrangea literally nipped in the bud.

  ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea. It will get through a USDA Zone 4 winter but break into leaf long before the last spring frost. Which would be fine if those leaves could take a frost. But they can’t. I keep this shrub around for sentimental reasons. It reminds me of my grandma’s blue hydrangea–which was dead hardy for her on Long Island. I have learned if I bury it in leaves in the fall and leave them on until June, it will fine.
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  One night at 27F does it in.

  Arisaema amurense. There are very few arisaemas hardy to USDA Zone 4. This arisaema, native to the Amur River valley, is supposed to be one of them, though other sites say Zone 5. Unfortunately it emerges from its winter dormancy in May, when we still have frost. Frost makes it lay down and die a premature death. It’s not pretty and it makes me want to cry. And that’s not pretty, either.
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  Native-born but can't deal with spring frost

  Arisaema triphyllum. I know it’s a native, you know it’s a native, but just try telling that to Jack. Our native Jack-in-the-pulpit can’t take the frost any better than his Asian cousin. How the heck did it survive all these years? Perhaps provenance makes a difference. This guy came from a relative living in the Hudson Valley near Albany. I really didn’t think our climates were that different, but maybe little things mean a lot.

Can’t Live With ‘Em or Without ‘Em

By now you have probably guessed that I don’t really hate these plants or I would have let them go to their eternal composted rest before now. Really I love them; I just hate their little sissy ways and how they make me work to keep them alive. I really thought it was going to get colder than 27F (-3C) last night or I would have made the effort to cover them. It might–might–have gotten them through. Another two degrees colder and nothing would have saved them, so I didn’t bother.

Why bother, indeed? I’m either hard-headed or soft-hearted. I keep telling myself each year that this year’s weather was an anomaly, that if I just help these plants pull through and build up strength, eventually they’ll be able to deal with a weird spring or two without my help. Yeah, right.

How about you? Are there plants in your garden that make you pull your hair out, but you just can’t part with?

These 'Black Beauty' lilies were tricked into emerging too early in the season

‘Black Beauty’ lilies are hardy to USDA zone 4 or 5, depending on whose catalog you are reading. But getting through a harsh winter does them no good if they can’t handle the vagaries of a northern spring. If it were the third week of May and we had a hard freeze, I’d cover these plants. But sorry, this early in spring I’m not babying anything, because for it to do any good, I’d have to consistently cover them every night from now until the end of May. I know I’d forget at least once, so why start?

Old House Gardens praises these lilies for “wonderful vigor and long life in all sorts of gardens,” so they may pull through. I’ve got my fingers crossed for my bleeding heart, as well. Call it tough love, pragmatic horticulture, or hard hearted cruelty–it’s not enough for a plant to make it through winter in my garden.

It has to be tough enough to make it through spring.

We usually see the trees budding in early May, not early April

Phenology? What’s That?

Phenology, if you’ve never come across the term, is the science (or perhaps art) of tracking natural occurrences and changes over a long period of time, to discover the patterns and rhythm of them, in order to learn from them. It is one of many good reasons to keep a garden notebook, so you can develop an accurate phenology of your own unique ecosystem.

When You Hear the Peepers, Plant Peas

A sight I never thought I'd see: Cornelian cherry and Juneberry blooming at the same time.

Develop Your Own Very Local Phenology

I didn’t have any garden to-do’s associated with the Cornelian cherry, the forsythia, or the Juneberries, so they’re not messing me up. I do have a good idea of when our last frost is, and counting back from that is probably still the best guide to when to plant things. Of course, the more years you’ve been gardening in the same place, and recording this date, the more accurate you will be. Nature Calendar is an interesting phenological source for those of us in hardiness zones 4-7, east of the Mississippi. If you haven’t spent much time in your present garden, it can help you pinpoint where you are in the cycle of seasons. You can also peruse an earlier post I wrote on phenology, which had observations I had collected from a variety of sources. It frustrated me then, and still does, that many of these maxims either do not agree, or are not precise enough to be helpful. But if you have nothing to go on, they can be a good place to start.

Do you use phenology to direct your vegetable garden planting, or guide you in other garden chores? I’d be interested to hear of your observations.

UPDATE: Just discovered the USA National Phenology Network.

*Quote attributed to Mark Twain

What happens when the snow melts in the middle of winter? I made a brief video to show you:

Some roads and a few low bridges have flooded, forcing early school closings and rerouting traffic.

A thaw in January is common, but rain doesn’t always accompany it. Sometimes it is brilliantly sunny, inspiring snowball fights in shirt sleeves. A thaw like this is similar to what happens in mud season–except we know winter isn’t over yet. Despite warming up to over 50F today, it will drop below freezing tonight and there’s a chance of snow flurries.

Yesterday, the low here was 8F (-13C). That’s not too surprising. But Dee Nash of Red Dirt Ramblings told me her low that same day was 5F (-15C) in Oklahoma. Whoa! What’s going on here? Check out Eric Berger’s explanation in the Houston Chronicle. It turns out a lot of factors have contributed to the south being colder than the north in many cases.

Of course, today the low was -7F (-22C) this morning, the coldest it’s been all winter. But we’re used to it (whether or not we like it) and those Southerners are not.

Last night it snowed. That, in itself, is not unusual for the second half of October. But normally we get flurries mixed with rain, and no accumulation. Yesterday a weather record for snow accumulation was broken. The official new record is 1.2 inches accumulation. The old record was “trace.” And unofficial reports coming in tell of as much as twice that accumulation.

The view from the porch around 7:30am. (Click to enlarge)

The hillside was past peak color two days ago, but still looked pretty.

Of course, this is all child’s play compared to Buffalo’s October 2006 snowstorm, so I’m trying hard to keep things in perspective. I generally figure there will be one mild day the first week in November to get the final clean up done, and they are predicting temperatures in the sixties next week, so I’m hoping I will still get to plant the box of a hundred crocuses I bought. So I’m trying hard not to panic. But it is disconcerting.

Yikes! Snow predicted for Friday! This is happening too fast for me. Just had first hard frost (26F) last night.

Last night the National Weather Service issued a frost advisory for our area, and we did indeed get a frost. They are issuing a freeze warning for tonight. What’s the difference?

I contacted a member of the local weather station staff. He told me that

Both [the frost advisory and the freeze warning] are only issued during the growing season. A Frost Advisory is issued when the predicted temperature is expected to fall to 36 degrees or lower in the next 3 to 30 hours during the growing season. So temperatures 35 to 40 range would also dictate a frost advisory. A Freeze Warning is issued when there is an 80% or greater chance that the temperatures are expected to fall to 32 degrees (F) or lower in the next 3 to 30 hours during the growing season. If the temperature is expected to fall below 28 degrees (F) this is considered a Hard Freeze.

Radiational Cooling

Another way to look at it is that a frost is caused by radiational cooling, that is, the earth loses enough heat that temperatures drop below the freezing point at ground level. Sometimes when there is a very light frost, the freezing temperature occurs just a bit above ground level. Our first frost this year was a very light one, where the tops of the basil plants got damaged, but the plants themselves survived.

Advective Cooling

A freeze, on the other hand, is caused by advective cooling, where a mass of cold air comes into the area from somewhere else (like the Arctic). This usually signals the end of the growing season for all but the hardiest plants. When the weather service issues a freeze advisory, they are telling you the party’s over. It’s time to get serious about fall clean up and winter preparation.

Time to Get Serious with the Chores

I need to empty and wash the bird bath and bring it in. Oh, and I better make sure the rain gauge is empty. What’s on your must-do list?

I saw frost in shady lawn this a.m., but coleus, cosmos, dahlias all look fine. Just that one spot, I guess.