Cold Climate Gardening

These plants don’t look too happy, but I’m not sure if it’s the cold that put them in a snit, or a viral infection. Left to right: Daylily 2E, Colchicum giganteum, Daylily 4B, C. ‘Harlequin,’ Daylily 4C, C. speciousumAfter nearly two weeks of warm, frost-free weather in April, my garden got socked with a 22 degree (-6C) night. I would like to think these poor plants are suffering from frost damage, but I know streaking in the leaves is a symptom of many plant viruses.

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And though one has begun to search for signs of spring almost since January, and to receive them, like postcards sent on a long voyage to home, it is with the greening of the grass that spring has, finally, certainly arrived.

It wasn’t until I read A Year at North Hill : Four Seasons in a Vermont Garden by Wayne Winterrowd and Joe Eck that I made the connection between the greening of the grass and the frost finally being out of the ground. …

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18 degrees at 6am; back to cold weather again after a couple of weeks of decoy weather–days into the 50’s & even 60!
The frost was so beautiful at sunrise this morning (9:10 am because of Black Mountain & Katka peak) that I was mesmerised. It was land of glitter & glory: prismatic rainbows and silver everywhere, diamond beads on the birdfeeders….ooh-er, lucky to be alive.

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You were smart to bring them in. You don’t want the roots to freeze. Once they are in the ground, I would try to protect the tops for about a week to let them settle in. (The traditional vegetable garden protection is bed sheets from the house. You could also use the pot they just came out of to cover them at night. Of course, all the covering has to come off for the day. And if you get far enough below freezing, nothing helps.) After that the roots should still keep growing until the ground freezes hard. The nursery bed is probably a good idea. But don’t just depend on the tags to stay in the ground …

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What’s up with perennials? I brought them in because of frost warnings. Are they okay if I put them in the ground today? I think I am going to turn my cornfield into a giant nursery bed and just put stuff in the ground. When can I move stuff? Can I move them until the ground freezes? Do I have to wait until spring?

Since I am going to DC I need to do something if I can’t figure out where everything is going tomorrow.

Price and selection was my main motivating factor in buying from Hortico. I will write more later.

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Had our first frost last night, which for around here, was later than usual. I don’t know exactly how cold it got last night, but I wish I did. I’ve been looking at digital max-min thermometers, especially the wireless ones, for a while now, but the price keeps me from indulging. It always comes back to: “Do you know how many plants I could buy for that much money?” And I’ve discovered that a lot of the wireless ones don’t record temperatures as low as -35°F, which is the lowest I think it’s ever gotten since we’ve moved here. One company that prides itself on making wireless thermometers that do go that low is Koch. Theirs go down to …

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