After what seems like an eternity, Butterflies finally has open blooms, and none too soon as the weather channel says 25 degrees tonight and tomorrow night. If this does in fact occur, most of the magnolias just coming into open full bloom will have their blossoms destroyed. I guess I need to think in terms of how lucky we have been through the years... I can't recall ever having a bad all encompassing frosting of magnolia blossoms here in the gardens. Maybe we'll luck out this very night as well... if not, it's time to concern my thoughts with other things... garden-wise and otherwise.
As my friend Frog Pond says, "if the blooms don't look great close-up, stand farther away!" This grouping of two Bettys and two Pinkies proves his point... If you look closely at the (darker) Betty on the right, there is a lot of tepal browning caused by the severely cold winds we're experiencing this season. This morning the NE wind feels like blades of ice piercing the skin as I meandered through the gardens...
Here and there about the gardens are magnolias about to show there first blooms ever... I've been waiting in some cases for several years to witness what they will be like. In these cases, I'll simply cover the individual buds with a plastic baggie.... Red Baron is good example and will be simple to protect...
My fully matured Amelanchier canadensis is in full bloom today...
The hardy primulas I started from seed get a bit more attractive with each passing day... I suspect that these will be able to stand up to tonight's freeze...
Frog Pond and I had the opportunity to spend the past couple days in a beautiful community in Southern Michigan. The weather was perfect and in addition to spending time visiting some wonderful nurseries, we spent many hours with a local landscaper who grows thousands of rhododendrons and azaleas. Additionally he shared many hours with us, taking us to visit some of his wonderful landscaping projects and even introducing us to a customer or two, who shared their gardens with us as well.
I realize that despite discouragements such as this very cold weather after so much warmth, and the consequences of that situation, gardening is a constant process of learning and trying to advance new horizons. My next hurdle is to try to do more with rhododendrons and azaleas (including evergreen azaleas) in this climate and soil, which will certainly be a bit of a challenge to their success and my determination. I don't necessarily want to always take the safe route in gardening... were that the case, I would be without foreboding today as the natives will certainly manage well through this unseasonable cold (actually not unseasonable, it's the week of 85 degrees that caused this problem). I am fully responsible for any foreboding that I may feel at this moment because of plant choices I have made. When things go wrong, I am saddened... but in the majority of years when things go well, this gardening life is amazing.
I purchased a number of plants, especially evergreen azaleas, on this trip and will share more relating to that as the spring goes on. One simply can't allow one bad season to affect one's attitude towards gardening, even though discouragement pervades one's mood when things out of our control go wrong. As we traveled home yesterday, we saw beautiful peach orchards in full bloom and that area of the country was expecting frost as well. After all is said and done, my gardens are nothing greater than an interest... a hobby that brings good and on freezing nights such as this... bad and disconcerting (but temporary) moments to my life. Frog Pond and I were in full agreement that our heart goes out to all, especially those with orchards, who depend on their plants for their livelihood... we are greatly saddened for them and hope for some saving adjustment in the weather for us all.
Wavecrest Nursery near Saugatuck, Michigan was one of our stops. There were many beautiful and impressive trees in bloom, but the thing that most impressed me were these 50 (ish) year old specimens of Larix decidua. I will close with photos of these and request 'warm' thoughts from you for these next two nights... take care, Larry
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