We had a really hard frost/freeze overnight. It's upsetting, watching beautiful plants get damaged. Here in upstate New York frost is possible right up until the end of May. Given our usual weather, almost all of the plants can handle it. The truth is, the fault is not with the frost, it lies with those sultry April days that encouraged the plants to grow too fast too early. Plants whose normal growth period is after the time of frost got slammed hard this year! Global Warming causes frost damage. It sounds stupid, but it's not.
What gardener can look at this frost burned lily and not feel pain? These lilies planted among the Mount Hood daffodils presented a problem for us to protect them. Inverted trash cans among the daffodils crush the daffodil foliage. There are also more lilies to protect than there are trash cans. Sometimes our garden is a bit too big!
These Lilies spent the night under a plastic container with a bottle of warm water. This morning there was a skin of ice in the bottle, but the lilies made the night. As water changes from liquid to solid it gives off heat. There is not much heat in a juice bottle filled with water but we had to try something.
My Angelica gigas also made out well with it's upturned garbage can and bottle of water. Purple Angelica is a plant that I know is not suited to zone 4. I was so delighted that it made the winter. The prospect of having those big purple flower heads is thrilling! I know I'm taking a chance trying to grow this plant, but I would be so disappointed to lose it now that it's nearly mid May, and the warm weather is so close.
1 comment:
Wow, your lilies are huge! We get frosts til the end of May, too, but I am already pushing the envelope with my annuals. No frosts for us yet (knock on wood).
Christine in Alaska
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