We had a killing frost on Wednesday (28F), and I'm shocked at the number of hardy perennials that were affected. Frosts into June are normal, but I'm beginning to think the plants were possibly stressed by the subzero temperatures we had at the beginning of the winter with no snow cover. I seem to have lost about 20% of my plants over winter and I only plant to my hardiness zone (minimum average temperature of -25 to -20 degrees F). Now many of the surviving plants need to start all over again after this cold snap. It's so depressing.
Thankfully I'm not foolish enough to put out annuals yet and most of the vegetables I've started are cool weather crops. My sugar snap peas are about 6" tall and they weren't affected in the least. My potatoes had just started to emerge and now the leaves are all brown and dead, but I've read that they should recover and produce new shoots. One step forward, two steps back seems to be the norm this spring.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
That's soul destroying @CrankyYankee - fingers crossed the plants will come back fighting fit.
Planted containers and pots with various plants, the normal sort (for me), fuchsias, ivy leaf geraniums, regal geraniums, lobelia, alyssum, variegated trailing mint (can't remember the name), marigolds. I've had to buy lobelia, ivy leaf geraniums, and marigolds this year thanks to the slugs!
Also planted in two pots near to the back door two sleepy dahlia tubers (purchased) which have been cajoled to wake up for 6 or so weeks now, all to no avail, Muchacha and Crazy Love. I need to keep an eye on them, they've put out roots, but no sign of sprouting - had to gave them a lecture about not letting me down
Other sprouted dahlia tubers, together with daisies, hollyhock, marigold, and sunflower plants have been positioned in their pots around the garden, I'll work my way round the garden to plant them when they're in the shade. Bought a Jasmine from B&Q yesterday, that's also going to be planted.
It'll be a relief to have the plants in their permanent positions, as there seemed to be congestion everywhere.
Just looked at the weather forecast, and watered some of the plants. Some of them are so far behind this year.. I'm bird taming 😁; one blackbird, Mr B, is now happy wandering about under my chair, and hopping up on the table for raisins. Pingu, the other male, is coming closer now - last year he would sit on the sleepers and look over his shoulder when he wanted a raisin. The females have always come quite close to me. Eddie the acrobatic starling comes to within a couple of foot away now.
We went to our farm shop and I bought a box of 8 annuals and 5 different varieties. After planting them, I squeezed now each cm out of the bed, I went up to turn on the water for our hosepipe. I dear, that doesn’t sound good, a split in the pipe along the shed opposite. And that now when the plants need a start.
We sent a request on checkatrade for a plumber. 10 minutes later the first response. He will come on Monday and fix it. That’s what I call Christmas and Easter have fallen on one day.
Cut the grass and trimmed the edges of one section, then turned the "final rot down" compost bin contents into bags ready for use and the next one into that bin. And planted a lupin "Masterpiece", and two hellebores. Hedge cutting needs doing tomorrow (I've checked, no birds nesting) but it's a small-ish privet hedge so not too much of a chore.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Went to a GC on the way back from having a Covid jab and bought ant powder and 2 large containers of patio cleaner on special offer. A bit dubious about it as unbranded so did a test patch on our sandstone paving when we got home.
I've also done yet more bindweed killing, it's growing quicker than I can kill it. The first lot seems to have worked in that the leaves/shoots I stuffed into glass jars of the weedkiller a fortnight ago seem to have mostly died off but I can't detect a noticeable reduction of nearby bindweed. Perhaps I just need patience!
Checked the very large clump of grass growing between pavers at the edge of my pond. I stuffed it all into a plastic shopping bag and gave it a good spray of glyfosate. I then put a lump of stone on top to keep it in place. Very satisfactory out come. A heap of dead brown grass. I am leaving it in situ a bit longer to make sure the roots are dead. It seems to depend on what the weeds are as to how quickly they succumb to weed killer, judging by the paths I sprayed last week.
Posts
Planted containers and pots with various plants, the normal sort (for me), fuchsias, ivy leaf geraniums, regal geraniums, lobelia, alyssum, variegated trailing mint (can't remember the name), marigolds. I've had to buy lobelia, ivy leaf geraniums, and marigolds this year thanks to the slugs!
Also planted in two pots near to the back door two sleepy dahlia tubers (purchased) which have been cajoled to wake up for 6 or so weeks now, all to no avail, Muchacha and Crazy Love. I need to keep an eye on them, they've put out roots, but no sign of sprouting - had to gave them a lecture about not letting me down
Other sprouted dahlia tubers, together with daisies, hollyhock, marigold, and sunflower plants have been positioned in their pots around the garden, I'll work my way round the garden to plant them when they're in the shade. Bought a Jasmine from B&Q yesterday, that's also going to be planted.
It'll be a relief to have the plants in their permanent positions, as there seemed to be congestion everywhere.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.
I'm bird taming 😁; one blackbird, Mr B, is now happy wandering about under my chair, and hopping up on the table for raisins. Pingu, the other male, is coming closer now - last year he would sit on the sleepers and look over his shoulder when he wanted a raisin. The females have always come quite close to me. Eddie the acrobatic starling comes to within a couple of foot away now.
I ♥ my garden.
I've also done yet more bindweed killing, it's growing quicker than I can kill it. The first lot seems to have worked in that the leaves/shoots I stuffed into glass jars of the weedkiller a fortnight ago seem to have mostly died off but I can't detect a noticeable reduction of nearby bindweed. Perhaps I just need patience!
Very satisfactory out come. A heap of dead brown grass. I am leaving it in situ a bit longer to make sure the roots are dead.
It seems to depend on what the weeds are as to how quickly they succumb to weed killer, judging by the paths I sprayed last week.
Toms are growing, putting on a few inches every few days and the first toms have set on the Sungolds.