Before & After the Ice

Take a look at the two photos below. They were taken from exactly the same location, just 17 days apart. So which one was taken first?


How about this?


Answer: the pictures with snow were taken on January 20th, and the ones without snow were taken today, February 6th. The bamboo you see (Phyllostachys rubromarginata) quickly sprang back up to its original form after the ice had melted.

You can see the same bamboo planting in the before & after shots below along with the Escallonia hedge, which I am pleased to say is acting much more resilient than last year.


My Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis) also sprang back to life as if nothing had ever happened. You might notice the artichoke leaves (Cynara cardunculus) next to the prickly pear (Opuntia) cactus were badly damaged, but it's to be expected in any winter. It's a perennial and will quickly shoot up to 6' in the spring.

A couple more shots:

The Long and Winding Road...

I think I like the genus Galanthus (Snowdrops) for the sole reason these miniature ephemerals signal the beginning of the end of winter. Yes, it's an unfathomably long way to go until summer, but here's proof that we're making forward progress.

Speaking of progress, I felt it was time to remove the protection from my Musa basjoo (Hardy banana) grove. Based off of the unseasonably warm weather we had this weekend and a favorable forecast, I'm betting on no more arctic air invasions this winter...



This 1" x 2" gash in the side of my Trochodendron aralioides was the worst casualty of the ice/freezing rain spell that tormented the South Sound area two weeks ago.



Finally, the way the flowers on this Hamamelis intermedia (Witch Hazel) glow in the sunshine go a long way toward making me not loathe winter so much.

In the Bleak Midwinter, Part II

Here are a few more photos from last week's ice storm. Amazingly, all the plants in these photos suffered virtually no damage.

A prickly pear cactus (genus Opuntia, species unknown) in front of the drooping fronds of the not-really-cold-hardy Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island Date Palm).

The escallonia hedge (Escallonia x exoniensis 'Fradesii').

Above: Washingtonia robusta (Mexican fan palm)
Below: Magnolia grandiflora 'D.D. Blanchard' with Schefflera taiwaniana in the foreground.


Finally, in the past few years, I have come up with a simple way to measure the "badness" of an arctic outbreak. It takes into account both temperature and the length of time it has been below freezing. After all, many subtropical plants can take 20 degrees for a few nights, but not 10 degrees for even a few hours. So what is it? It's this fountain:

The photo above was taken on Friday, Jan 20th, 2012. Temperatures had finally risen above freezing after two full days in the 20's. But compare that with the picture below:


Same fountain, but a lot more ice. This was taken in November of 2010 - during the pre-Thanksgiving arctic mess that gave us lows of 15 degrees and kept the high temperatures in the 20's for a couple days. I had over 30 plants die during this outbreak, and many other plants died to the ground (like my escallonia hedge). Once I get a collection of several photos like this, I can assign them a rating and determine how bad a particular arctic outbreak was. Now this is not completely scientific, but it does quantify the severity of an arctic outbreak in a simple way. Perhaps in the future, instead of labeling the minimum temperature of plant labels, we will label the "cold severity number" to give us a better understanding of what conditions (coldness + time) a particular plant might be able to withstand.

In the Bleak Midwinter

Freezing rain is the evil step sister of snow. We had 6" of snow on Wednesday (1/18) followed by an inch of ice on Thursday (1/19). The supercooled raindrops instantly froze to whatever they touched - like this witch hazel (Hamamelis intermedia). Unfortunately, the ice also cut off the power.

Below, the redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) had a few branch casualties. Considering people cut holes through these trees and drive through them, I'm confident it will recover just fine.



Some plants will have a tougher recovery though. I noticed a major branch had broken off of my Trochodendron aralioides (pictured below, off to the left behind the bamboo).


Ice can be very beautiful when it's not ruining things.



An "ice fossil" of a palm tree.


Somewhere under those icicles are flower buds on this Camellia sasanqua.


Normally this bamboo (Phyllostachys rubromarginata) hides our neighbor's motor home shed. Not today.


One unlikely plant that managed to stay standing: this Melianthus major.


Hopefully the fish are doing alright under all that slush in the pond. No power means no water circulation but they are pretty much in hibernation mode anyway.


Finally, a look inside the greenhouse. Under normal circumstances the temperature in there never falls below 50 degrees, but with the power being out, there's not much I can do about that!

Stylin' in the Snow

How miserable is a garden in the middle of January
Where every plant you visit is dormant, dead or dreary.
It's the evergreen plants and ones that flower
That cheer you up when you're feeling sour.

Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl'

For example, this Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl' has dark, luxurious foliage all year round, but most appreciated this time of year. And, it sailed through last winter when the temperature plummeted down to 15 degrees!

Witch Hazels (Hamamelis intermedia) are in peak-bloom right now. Some little critter ate half the bark around the base of this tree two years ago so it hasn't been growing very much. I wrapped some breathable fabric around the base and it seems to be recovering.

Few things I love more than an evergreen plant that doesn't look like it's supposed to be evergreen. This palm leaf raspberry is one of those plants, although perhaps not completely hardy for the NW (it's doing OK this winter though!).

My Helwingia chinensis (above) really stands out as a broadleaved evergreen this time of year. It will grow little berries that look like ladybugs in the center of its leaves.

Finally, I'm horrible at remembering plant names but as long as I have Google all I have to do is type in everything I know about the plant, such as "Chile native red flowers evergreen", and an image search will just about always give me what I'm looking for. That's how I know this is a Crinodendron hookerianum.