Frozen, Part 1

Everything is still unthawing from the huge arctic freeze last week but the good news is everything is looking mostly ok.  Temperatures stayed below freezing for most of the week, with nighttime lows plummeting down to a pipe-bursting 10 degrees F (-12C). 



The sign of a true arctic freeze is when I can walk on the pond - something that hasn't happened in three years.  The fish are as happy as clams under that thick layer of ice.



In the front, here is the progression of ice forming on the fountain:

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

This fountain has become a useful gauge in helping to determine the severity of an arctic outbreak.  By comparing how much ice forms on the fountain to previous years, I have a sort of quantifiable analytical insight into the severity of each outbreak that mere low temperatures fall short of providing.  Having said that, I now realize it's not perfect.  As you can see, more ice formed this time than Nov. 2010, yet Nov 2010 killed way more plants.  At the very least, I find the mental imagery it provides useful.

December 2013

January 2013

January 2012

November 2010

Ok, on to the plants.  The plants I mention here are, for the most part, in that questionable zone between hardy and not hardy.  For the sake of simplicity, I'll rate how they fared on a scale of 1-7:

1 = Dead

2 = Severely damaged and may never fully recover

3 = Severely damaged but will probably fully recover eventually

4 = Severely damaged but will probably fully recover in less than a year

5 = Moderate cosmetic (e.g. leaf) damage but no known structural damage

6 = Minor leaf/flower damage

7 = No damage

I also note whether I took any protective measures for each plant and if so, what they were specifically.

Unprotected Echium fastuosum = 1 (Dead)

Protected Jubaea chilensis = 7 (No damage, protected with Christmas lights and covered with a blanket)

Unprotected Camellia sasanqua 'Apple Blossom' = 6 (Flowers froze, foliage is ok)

Protected Hebe 'Turkish Delight' = 7 (No damage; covered with a blanket)

Unprotected Edgeworthia chrysantha = 7 (Flower buds still seem to be in-tact)

Unprotected Cornus capitata = 2 (This has mostly dead written all over it)

Unprotected Eucalyptus dalrympleana = 5

Unprotected Asplenium scolopendrium (left) = 6 & Aspidistra elatior (right) = 7

 To be continued very soon...

Winter Light

The weather in March and April in Seattle has been known to drive people crazy (well at least one person), but it has been so calm around here lately I think the only people going crazy are the meteorologists.  Long-term forecasts are for yet another cooler-than-normal spring, but who pays attention to those?  As the days and nights become ever so gradually milder, more and more plants are starting to come to life.

Hepatica nobilis

Cyclamen coum

Edgeworthia chrysantha

Asparagus starting to shoot up.  It will be ready for harvest next month.

Peas planted two weeks ago on President's Day have emerged from the ground.

Broccoli planted last July is now reaching peak-harvest

Perpetual Precipitation = Primrose Paradise

Primula vulgaris (Common primrose)

In Seattle, March comes in like a lion and out like a duck.  The weather can be cold and rainy (like this year) or it can be mild and rainy with occasional warm stretches - even getting up into the 70s (not like this year).  It's pretty much always going to be raining though.  Luckily some sunshine has coincided with the weekend for once.

Edgeworthia chrysantha

Edgeworthias have the typical fragrance and small flowers of winter bloomers, but mine doesn't bloom until early spring.  It's probably a Seattle thing.

Arundo donax (Giant reed grass)

The grass above, Arundo donax, has usually died to the ground by this time of year.  This is the first year it has kept at least some of its leaves on its 12-foot high stalks, which leads me to hope it will continue growing from where it left off and possibly go to seed...

Sophora microphylla

Speaking of going to seed, my newly obtained Sophora microphylla is about to bloom.  I will most definitely be trying to propagate this plant.  The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle grows black locust trees around the African Savanna exhibit to mimic the acacias growing in the actual savanna, but they should be growing this tree instead!

Magnolia stellata

Glowing fuzz on the flower buds of Magnolia stellata (Star magnolia).

And finally, this Primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii has been in bloom like this ever since Far Reaches Farm shipped it to me six weeks ago. 

Primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii

A sigh of relief

While most of the tropical/subtropical plants loved the 95 degree heat we had last week in Seattle, I noticed a few of my plants were tormented a bit.  Edgeworthia chrysantha (Chinese paper bush), above, and Dicksonia antarctica (Tasmanian tree fern), below, are two examples. They are both relatively new, so had they been more established, I'm sure they would have fared a little better!

A couple plants that can't get enough of the heat are Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii' (Red banana) and Ricinus communis (Castor bean plant). They are now both over 8' tall and still growing! They were both planted in April. I ordered the castor bean seeds off the Internet and planted them directly in the ground.