Some crispy winter pics!

[Paul Ont]

While those of you in the west have been enjoying the benefits of El Nino, here in the east things haven't been as easy. Massive snow storms and well below normal temps for the US southeast, prolonged freezing temps, etc. etc.

Here in Ontario we've had prolonged freezes, little to no snow all winter (we have some now, and more on the way, FINALLY! Why couldn't it have come earlier to help protect the plants?) but the extremes haven't been bad. In Sydeham I recorded an extreme low of -22C, which puts it at zone 6a for the winter (it is a z. 4b/5a border) which is in the top few winters ever for extreme low. Like I said, however, the problem has been the lack of snow and the prolonged freeze.

Here are a few late (I hope!) winter pics:
Phyllostachys aureosulcata bent down to be covered by the snow... Which, as you can see, has been insufficient... The culm is green but the foliage is 70% brown. Palm house in the back:
<img src="http://inlinethumb16.webshots.com/44943 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="046">
Rhododendron letting us know that it is cold:
<img src="http://inlinethumb44.webshots.com/43883 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="047">
A lovely crunchy Fargesia rufa (no tag when I bought it, so id isn't confirmed)... Thought to be one of the toughest bamboos on earth, often rated as hardy below -30C:
<img src="http://inlinethumb10.webshots.com/45897 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="049">
My test-bed for young bamboo. It's in a good micro-climate. Most of the bamboo are crunchy now! A more thorough report will be issued in spring.
<img src="http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/43814 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="051">
A demonstration of how the snow cover protection works. P. aureosulcata culms bent to the gorund. Exposed branches have brown folaige, while those that are (were) covered with snow are still green(ish):
<img src="http://inlinethumb54.webshots.com/46901 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="052">
Cactus bed. North facing... In retrospect this might have been a better idea than I realized... It kept snow cover all along...
<img src="http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/43242 ... 600Q85.jpg" alt="053">

Cheers!

[hardyjim]

Yea Paul
How this winter ends will be fascinating.
Will it vanish while we are not paying attention?

Our will it hang on endlessly and finally give way to late spring/early summer weather>>>>
I think to some degree it depends on what your winter has been like.
to be continued......

[BILL MA]

Hopefully where turning the corner in the North East. Snow is gone here, and has been except for north facing plow banks for awhile.
The current two systems are dumping all rain on me here thank god, 10 day weather channel forecast has everyday above 40 here
and low hovering around the freezing mark or just under. Sounds good to me!

Nice pictures again

Bill

[Barrie]

Wow ... tough to garden like that. I'm pretty sure if I (and my plants) had to face that, I'd give up.
I hope there are some nice suprizes for you this spring after all the cold.

Cheers, Barrie.

[TerdalFarm]

Paul,
thanks for sharing.
Winter here has been relatively tough. We were at 20oF this morning. The TV meteorologist last night reminded us that we were at 81oF this time last year.
As for bamboo, I am planning a bamboo grove. The only bamboo I have in the ground now is basic golden bamboo, P. aurea. It has done fine with absolutely no winter protection the past couple of winters.
This winter, however, it looks "crispy" to use your word. That blizzard of Dec. 24 (our first EVER, mind you) was very hard on it, as was the cold (3oF, -16oC) in early January.
I have since piled stall scoopings (horse manure, pine shavings bedding, uneaten hay) over the roots. They'll be fine, but essentially everything above ground seems to have been lost.
--Erik

[Paul Ont]

Erik- In terms of bamboo hardiness, P. aurea is the worst that I ever tried (I've tried it outside twice, and lost it both times). I still have a pot full of P. aurea 'koi' that I drag in and out every year. It is not particularily attractive, and not at all hardy this far north. I keep it just because the 1 gallon size I bought (when I didn't know better) cost me 40 bucks and I don't want to lose out on that investment. Myabe I should jsut stick it in the trial bed and let it die next winter! Too bad about yours, are the culms crispy too, or just the foliage? If it's just the foliage, it should recover by mid-summer...

Barrie- The funny thing here is that we do grow a lot of the same plants! There are always suprizes one way or another, that's the whole point of the gardening with out of zone 'exotics'!!!

Snow all this week, temps hovering around freezing. Not terrible, and it's amazing to finally have some snow, but I do miss the sunny days of earlier in the winter!

[lucky1]

Paul,
Nice job of that palm enclosure, looks like it can stand up to anything winter throws at it.
Can't remember if you have heat in that Trachy enclosure.

Rhodos always look like they're on death's door in winter.
Mine is smack up against the north side of house, and hates any cold wind.
Yet comes back every year with a nice flower show, just not lush like on the Coast.

Too bad snow levels didn't cover your bamboo canes but as you said they will come back.
Good research will result.

Your P. aureosulcata against the house looks better than last year if I recall correctly.
Good that your cactus bed is well situated.

So far looks good considering -22C low.
Ours was -20.6C -5.1F on Dec.14.

Barb

[Barrie]

Paul ... Have you tried Phyllostachys nuda? It's reported by the American Bamboo Society to be reliably hardy to -29ºC (-20ºF)

Cheers. Barrie.

[Paul Ont]

Barrie- P. nuda? Yes, I have 1. I'd rate it as similar in hardiness to P. aureosulcata. It generally defoliates and usually top-kills. It also has the unimpressive trait of slow size up. The damage slows it down, but man is it ever slow.

[hardyjim]

Paul
How are the palms and cactus looking?
Have you had a chance to peek in on them?

I hope to pop open a few covers this weekend as temps recover above freezing for highs

[Paul Ont]

No chance to look at the cacti. Most are buried under the snow right now... I no longer bother to cover (most) of them, the effort of doing so wasn't worth the pay-off come spring. It really only made the humifusa look nicer in spring. It is a wonder for Agaves and Yucca though, which is why I sitll use the smaller containers for them (often). I'm still looking for an Agave that can handle the damp cold. My hope is that some of the Agave utahensis ssp. kaibabensis seedlings will prove tough in the cold/snow. I have a trial of c. 100 seedlings completely exposed this winter... We shall see.

Once we lose the snow I'll give a thorough update.

[TerdalFarm]

Paul,
thanks for the bamboo tips. I may start planting my bamboo grove this spring and am looking for advice.
The local nurseries only sell golden bamboo and black (P. nigra). I had the black when I lived in the city of Tulsa. In a great microclimate, it did fabulous (spreading to neighbor's yard, etc.). No winter damage, ever. I can buy large tubs at local nurseries.
For the more exotic bamboos, I can drive to "Amazing Gardens" in Oklahoma City.
Before I do that, what is your experience with P. nigra?
--Erik

[hardyjim]

No chance to look at the cacti. Most are buried under the snow right now... I no longer bother to cover (most) of them, the effort of doing so wasn't worth the pay-off come spring. It really only made the humifusa look nicer in spring. It is a wonder for Agaves and Yucca though, which is why I sitll use the smaller containers for them (often). I'm still looking for an Agave that can handle the damp cold. My hope is that some of the Agave utahensis ssp. kaibabensis seedlings will prove tough in the cold/snow. I have a trial of c. 100 seedlings completely exposed this winter... We shall see.

Once we lose the snow I'll give a thorough update.

A.havardiana is supposed to handle moisture

[Paul Ont]

No chance to look at the cacti. Most are buried under the snow right now... I no longer bother to cover (most) of them, the effort of doing so wasn't worth the pay-off come spring. It really only made the humifusa look nicer in spring. It is a wonder for Agaves and Yucca though, which is why I sitll use the smaller containers for them (often). I'm still looking for an Agave that can handle the damp cold. My hope is that some of the Agave utahensis ssp. kaibabensis seedlings will prove tough in the cold/snow. I have a trial of c. 100 seedlings completely exposed this winter... We shall see.

Once we lose the snow I'll give a thorough update.

A.havardiana is supposed to handle moisture

Oh my have I ever killed a lot of those... And A. parryi, A. parryi mountain forms, A. montana, A. gracipes, A. neomexicana, A. utahensis and var's, etc. etc... Long story short, they don't like cold/wet conditions!

[canadianplant]

Not to bad paul... I have faith fer you bamboos.

Fer the "koi", do what I did, and i bet you 5 bucks itll survive. DOnt ferget the spring pics!