Recovery!

Not as bad as I feared!

The 4″ of heavy snow melted almost entirely in one day, but it was followed by a 25 F night. Surprisingly, there was not as much damage as I expected. The Front Garden doesn’t look too bad, although there are a lot of bent over stems, mostly on daffodils so I’ll be doing a lot of bouquet cutting this day. The tulips that were beginning to fade suffered worst, but only a very few had broken or folded stems. A bit of deadheading, and the garden will look fairly decent.

The hyacinths suffered most…

Looking closely, one will notice a lot of tulip petals missing or barely hanging on, making the flower resemble an iris more than a tulip! But, remember these tulips were the first to bloom, so they were on the far end of their cycle when the snow arrived. The hyacinths have turned completely brown, and will need to be removed. Most of the “Geranium” narcissus are laying down, but a closer look reveals that only about 1/3 have actually bent over stems, so the others may recover a bit. Another day will no doubt tell the tale more accurately. The muscari seem unaffected by the snow or cold.

The south half of the Potager Exterior Border.

The Potager’s Exterior Border also seem fairly unaffected by the bad weather. Of course, the tulips here were just beginning to open or still in tight bud. Most of the daffodils seem in pretty good shape as well, although several that needed deadheading before the snow still do! The weather just hasn’t been conducive for outdoor work, but some should get done today.

The gooseberry, currants and lilacs seem okay as well. The fruits were covered, but the lilac was not. Everything that was covered in the potager is fine, although I may regret not covering the sweet peas. They look a bit flattened today, but maybe if I put them back on their support twigs they will perk up. The cabbages also look a bit flattened, but the leaves look healthy, so I think they will carry on. Nothing on the Fairy Slope was damaged…the bergenia blooms that were just opening, the daffodils and hellebores look beautiful.

So, next year when we get a Spring snow, I can look back at this post and not worry so much. These spring plants are more resilient than we often think.

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