March 28, 2017 - Sad report on the 21 to 23 degrees freeze we had a week or two ago.

          Of course the burgundy pansies and the two tone blue Johnny Jump up type pansies survived through the drastic drop in temperatures of a few weeks ago.   The Henbit, that pernicious ground weed with the royalty pretext of purple flowers looks as if it relished it.  Sadly, nothing kills it.

          Meanwhile the blooms of my forsythia, flowering quince and Bradford pears got annihilated. The tips of all my hostas that were up about 3 inches with leaves starting to unfurl now have mushy frozen tips.  That will set them back a bit.   I just have too many to cover when we have drastic drops in temperature.

          There is a difference between a frost or drop to the freezing point compared to 21 degrees which is FROZEN.  Often the 32 down to 30 degrees there is not that much damage. 

But, my newest spring bulbs planted last fall along the entrance walk to the house were my biggest disappointment.  I planted Delft Blue Hyacinths – 4 clumps of 5 each. All were looking grand and standing tall with their flower stems up and their little blossoms ready to open and perfume the spring air along the back patio and WHAM – nailed by the 23 degree and 21 degree freeze.

 The blossoms turned black and then the actual flower stems plopped over to the ground.  Never in all my years of gardening have I witnessed hyacinths with full size flower stems desiccated by a killing freeze.  The leave look a little rough, but hopefully they’ll continue to nourish the bulbs with enough energy to rebuild strength so they will bloom next year. I cut the dead stems off to improve the look of the garden.

But what grieves me the most about the hyacinths – they were planted with the intent that their incredible fragrance would surround us as we sat on the patio in early spring.  I’ll have to patiently wait until next year for that intoxicating perfume on the soft spring breeze.