Loss and recompense
Yesterday I stoically showed pictures of the succulents that came through our cold snap with little to no damage. But other succulents, including some agaves and aloes, plus some of my zone-pushing plants like Australian acacias and Mexican bamboo, were fatally damaged or set back and must grow back from the roots. I find myself frowning as I look at these wounded plants, especially knowing another hard freeze is on the way this Friday and Saturday.
And so it’s comforting to remember British author and gardener Beverley Nichols’s observation that “[i]t is only to the gardener that time is a friend, giving each year more than he steals.”
It’s good to have things put into perspective again, don’t you agree?
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I’ve not read this quote. I totally agree. It is supposed to be zero here this weekend. UGH… After having a couple of 50degree days I felt a false sense of spring. Ha… It won’t be long though.
Great quotation to remember when the pain is fresh! I had to remove several trees this fall – one of which I really miss. More sun, more room – still I mourn in winter’s gloom 🙂
I am also in Austin and am a little heartsick of hearing about another hard freeze. This year has been hard on my plants as well. I have many of the same as you, plus vegetables, a few of which I managed to keep alive. Oh, to think of hauling in all those potted plants again!
I agree. And I love that quote. Thanks, Pam!
I’m sorry you lost some of your plants. Weather has been a tricky thing lately. That quote is a good one, definitely worth remembering!
I’ll stubbornly cover tender lettuces this weekend….but if we keep having hard freezes, don’t know how many times I’ll be willing to do that before I throw in the trowel and simply see what is left after the cold retreats again. Deep breath, longer view, and an eye to that gift of time. Great post, Pam.
Yikes – another freeze? I’m in the Houston area, and I thought we were expecting 40’s – but perhaps that was the high. Now I’m going to have to check out weather forecast for the weekend. The nice weather we’ve been having has had me in “gardening mode” but I need to be careful not to jump the gun.
We’re about to leave here, for the week. Things can’t stay covered that long, so guess I’ll lose even more.
I was really trying to keep the Thryallis alive. The weather just won’t co-operate. We’ve had lows in the 20s, the last few days. Could be teens, with this next front.
Looks like there will be a lot to replace this spring.
I feel for you. Just when we think we have it all figured out, Mother Nature gives us an unusual slap.
Cameron
At least you had fun and learned while doing it! Zone-pushing is “way better” than zone-denial…
I like that sentiment. Gardening has taught me such patience. While I haven’t had anything die on me yet this winter, my little Oakleaf Hydrangea has suffered a major set back from deer depredation & breakage. It’s going to take a long time for the poor thing to recover, so I feel for you. I guess you could say it builds character.
I think this is why we garden: because we never can figure it out. We think we have and then the weather changes for a few years or you lose your major shade tree and you need to start learning again. Would not be half as much fun if we knew it all. But this is a painful winter no matter where you live; lots of favorites won’t be back.
With the exception of our week of record cold in December we’ve had an above average winter as far as temperatures. I keep thinking about how lovely everything would be in the garden if it hadn’t been for that week.
You might as well turn that frown upside down. My gardens look nothing like they did this time last year, thanks to Jack Frost and his prolonged visits this January. I feel excited to get out there and change things around though.
That’s a great reminder, thank you!
Hang in there with your wattle, Pam. If it’s Acacia baileyana (is that right?), that plant has the common name of Cootamundra wattle. Cootamundra is a cool, mountain town in my state that gets lots of hard frosts plus occasional winter snow (but not a lot of permanent ground snow), so a plant that’s native to that cold place is worth a bit of zone-pushing. Good luck!
That’s promising! Thanks for the good news, Jamie. —Pam
Sorry to read about all your succulents that are not surviving the extreme cold. Up here, in northern Canada, I routinely cover all my tender annuals at night, starting in September. I like to prolong summer. By October the farce is over, I let them die and look forward to April or even May when I can start all over again.
Jamie beat me to my comment about the Cootamundra wattle. The other wattle may well cope all right — fingers crossed!
Just can’t get over the fact that Beverley was a man. Anyway, plants die for the same reason that people do — to make room for others. So when a plant croaks, feel good. Now you have a hole to fill with something even better.