With all the horrible news in the world and the need to spend as much time as possible at home I was reveling in the state of my garden. This was the winter that wasn't. No snow, no ice storms, not even a hard freeze in my garden. That was until Saturday. A friend called our wet snow "Cascade cement," it's a name that fits. When an inch and a half to two inches of snow has plants bending under the weight, well, it's just not a good thing.
![]()
This Yucca aliofolia has never been in an ideal spot, unless you enjoy visitors to your garden jumping when they're poked with its needle-like tips (in all honesty there have been a few times when I had to stifle a smirk). Now that it's bent over at a very awkward angle I'm going to have to either get rid of it, or try to move it.
![]()
Over in the NW corner a bunch of bamboo canes were laying on top of an already bent Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’.
![]()
Everybody down!
![]()
These blooms were at eye-level just last Friday...
![]()
Which of course brings me to what was supposed to be the subject of this post, Garden Bloggers Bloomday! Yesterday was the 15th of the month, the day that garden bloggers report on what's blooming in their gardens. I tried to find my flowers...those that weren't covered in snow.
![]()
Parts of the Grevillea miqueliana were bent to the ground, but other stems were upright and wondering what all the fuss was about.
![]()
I haven't seen these Pittosporum patulum leaves up close and personal for a couple of years.
![]()
Most of the hellebores were covered in snow and unseen. Helleborus argutifolius...
![]()
...and this NOID hellebore are under a large Metapanax delavayi so the snow wasn't deep enough to bend and bury their blooms.
![]()
This—along with the Yucca aliofolia at the top of my post—are the real heart breakers of this snow event. The big leaves and thin stems of Sasa palmata f. nebulosa are just no match for ice or heavy snow.
![]()
Just a couple of weeks ago I'd cleaned out any ugly canes and was thrilled with how upright this bamboo had remained after our non-winter. Once this snow melted some bits straightened back up, but not all. I'm going to have to trim out the ones that did not.
![]()
I suppose my attacking and cleaning out the dead canes in all the bamboo tanks contributed to this mess, since the dead ones remain rigid and help support the weight of the others.
![]()
Everyone inside the shade pavilion greenhouse is happy, after all the temperatures only dipped to 32F.
![]()
Thankfully the magnolia hadn't started to leaf out yet. Wet snow on those big leaves would have broke some branches for sure.
![]()
The Echium wildpretii should be fine...
![]()
Although I don't think they particularly enjoyed the snow.
![]()
Dasylirion wheeleri on the other hand, no problem...
![]()
Ditto for the Agave ovatifolia...
![]()
And Agave parryi 'JC Raulston'.
![]()
Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony’ was rather prostrate during the event, but popped back up once the melt occurred—no damage to branches or flowers.
![]()
Another Agave ovatifolia, this one "Frosty Blue"...what a prefect name...
![]()
Daphne x houtteana, its thin branches bent under the snow load but are upright now.
![]()
The blooms on Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' are at the end of their run, but still provided a nice shelf for the snow.
![]()
Here you can get a sense of just how wet that snow was.
![]()
Future flowers! I planted Moluccella laevis seeds in this stock tank back on March 4th, I was a little worried I was too late and missed the chill period these seeds require. Ha! No worries.
![]()
That was my altered Bloomday post for March, click on over to May Dreams Gardens for links all the bloggers with flowers to share.
Weather Diary, Mar 15: Hi 46, Low 34/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
This Yucca aliofolia has never been in an ideal spot, unless you enjoy visitors to your garden jumping when they're poked with its needle-like tips (in all honesty there have been a few times when I had to stifle a smirk). Now that it's bent over at a very awkward angle I'm going to have to either get rid of it, or try to move it.
Over in the NW corner a bunch of bamboo canes were laying on top of an already bent Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Akebono’.
Everybody down!
These blooms were at eye-level just last Friday...
Which of course brings me to what was supposed to be the subject of this post, Garden Bloggers Bloomday! Yesterday was the 15th of the month, the day that garden bloggers report on what's blooming in their gardens. I tried to find my flowers...those that weren't covered in snow.
Parts of the Grevillea miqueliana were bent to the ground, but other stems were upright and wondering what all the fuss was about.
I haven't seen these Pittosporum patulum leaves up close and personal for a couple of years.
Most of the hellebores were covered in snow and unseen. Helleborus argutifolius...
...and this NOID hellebore are under a large Metapanax delavayi so the snow wasn't deep enough to bend and bury their blooms.
This—along with the Yucca aliofolia at the top of my post—are the real heart breakers of this snow event. The big leaves and thin stems of Sasa palmata f. nebulosa are just no match for ice or heavy snow.
Just a couple of weeks ago I'd cleaned out any ugly canes and was thrilled with how upright this bamboo had remained after our non-winter. Once this snow melted some bits straightened back up, but not all. I'm going to have to trim out the ones that did not.
I suppose my attacking and cleaning out the dead canes in all the bamboo tanks contributed to this mess, since the dead ones remain rigid and help support the weight of the others.
Everyone inside the shade pavilion greenhouse is happy, after all the temperatures only dipped to 32F.
Thankfully the magnolia hadn't started to leaf out yet. Wet snow on those big leaves would have broke some branches for sure.
The Echium wildpretii should be fine...
Although I don't think they particularly enjoyed the snow.
Dasylirion wheeleri on the other hand, no problem...
Ditto for the Agave ovatifolia...
And Agave parryi 'JC Raulston'.
Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony’ was rather prostrate during the event, but popped back up once the melt occurred—no damage to branches or flowers.
Another Agave ovatifolia, this one "Frosty Blue"...what a prefect name...
Daphne x houtteana, its thin branches bent under the snow load but are upright now.
The blooms on Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' are at the end of their run, but still provided a nice shelf for the snow.
Here you can get a sense of just how wet that snow was.
Future flowers! I planted Moluccella laevis seeds in this stock tank back on March 4th, I was a little worried I was too late and missed the chill period these seeds require. Ha! No worries.
That was my altered Bloomday post for March, click on over to May Dreams Gardens for links all the bloggers with flowers to share.
— — —
Weather Diary, Mar 15: Hi 46, Low 34/ Precip 0
All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.