It was during the 2018 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival that I first visited the "understory" plantings at the Amazon Spheres in Seattle. I remember walking around in awe of what they'd planted and hoping the coming winter would be good to them.
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Fast forward to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival 2019 and Seattle was just coming out of a very snowy and very cold couple of weeks. I took advantage of a sunny afternoon and strolled up 7th Ave to check things out...
Sinopanax formosanus and Schefflera delavayi, both looking fine.
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I found this reassuring, since I've got one of these I haven't put in the ground yet.
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There was another one nearby that had some foliage damage, I wonder what caused it?
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Oh my! This looks like it might have been a Genista aetnensis.
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There were several beschorneria looking just like this...
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I'm not an expert on these, but I don't think that's happy new growth.
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Hopefully I'm wrong.
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The Agave ovatifolia looked good.
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As did the Yucca rostrata and Agave parryi.
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Even the Rhodocoma capensis held up pretty well.
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Oh the poor pyrossia!
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In some places it looked like they bore the burden of all the snow as it slipped off the dome and landed on the ground below.
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The Mahonia eurybracteata doesn't appear to mind a little adverse weather, the tree ferns however were still wearing their winter coats.
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On my previous visit I'd spotted several Fascicularia pitcairnifolia tucked into the trunks of the tree ferns. Looks like they didn't take them off before they wrapped everything up, you can see a few leaves peeking out.
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From what I could see all their tree ferns got a wrap of bubble wrap and then burlap. There were also caps to keep snow and ice out of the crown.
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Some of the foliage looks rather toasted...
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But as long as the trunks are still alive they'll be able to cut off the dead fronts and a new flush will quickly replace them. Fingers crossed this is the case.
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The burlap wraps—so expertly done—reminded me of Martha Stewart's posts about wrapping her shrubs every winter.
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Oh! That's a happy astelia.
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Sadly the Ochagavia carnea suffered.
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They look like they'll be fine, just cosmetic damage.
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Going to be hell to clean up though, all those barbs along the leaf margin...ouch!
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The last bit of burlap drama...
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All the Pseudopanax ferox and P. crassifolius were covered.
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If you hadn't seen the plants before they were wrapped this would be quite the head scratcher.
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Looks like there are bamboo stakes providing support.
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We've left the Amazon campus now and I have one last example of Seattle plant protection to share, a volunteer effort. This tree fern has been growing at the open-air University Village shopping area as long as I can remember. Someone I know via Instagram made sure it was warm during the freeze. Aren't plant people the best?
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I plan to revisit all these plants sometime this summer and file a follow-up report, I hope it will be a happy one!
Weather Diary, March 27: Hi 56, Low 39/ Precip .22
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Fast forward to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival 2019 and Seattle was just coming out of a very snowy and very cold couple of weeks. I took advantage of a sunny afternoon and strolled up 7th Ave to check things out...
Sinopanax formosanus and Schefflera delavayi, both looking fine.
I found this reassuring, since I've got one of these I haven't put in the ground yet.
There was another one nearby that had some foliage damage, I wonder what caused it?
Oh my! This looks like it might have been a Genista aetnensis.
There were several beschorneria looking just like this...
I'm not an expert on these, but I don't think that's happy new growth.
Hopefully I'm wrong.
The Agave ovatifolia looked good.
As did the Yucca rostrata and Agave parryi.
Even the Rhodocoma capensis held up pretty well.
Oh the poor pyrossia!
In some places it looked like they bore the burden of all the snow as it slipped off the dome and landed on the ground below.
The Mahonia eurybracteata doesn't appear to mind a little adverse weather, the tree ferns however were still wearing their winter coats.
On my previous visit I'd spotted several Fascicularia pitcairnifolia tucked into the trunks of the tree ferns. Looks like they didn't take them off before they wrapped everything up, you can see a few leaves peeking out.
From what I could see all their tree ferns got a wrap of bubble wrap and then burlap. There were also caps to keep snow and ice out of the crown.
Some of the foliage looks rather toasted...
But as long as the trunks are still alive they'll be able to cut off the dead fronts and a new flush will quickly replace them. Fingers crossed this is the case.
The burlap wraps—so expertly done—reminded me of Martha Stewart's posts about wrapping her shrubs every winter.
Oh! That's a happy astelia.
Sadly the Ochagavia carnea suffered.
They look like they'll be fine, just cosmetic damage.
Going to be hell to clean up though, all those barbs along the leaf margin...ouch!
The last bit of burlap drama...
All the Pseudopanax ferox and P. crassifolius were covered.
If you hadn't seen the plants before they were wrapped this would be quite the head scratcher.
Looks like there are bamboo stakes providing support.
We've left the Amazon campus now and I have one last example of Seattle plant protection to share, a volunteer effort. This tree fern has been growing at the open-air University Village shopping area as long as I can remember. Someone I know via Instagram made sure it was warm during the freeze. Aren't plant people the best?
I plan to revisit all these plants sometime this summer and file a follow-up report, I hope it will be a happy one!
Weather Diary, March 27: Hi 56, Low 39/ Precip .22
All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.