Wretched Weather Bonus

It should come as a surprise to no one that the recent weather here has been brutal.  The first photo, taken March 30th, shows the condition of the Cardinal Flower plants that grew from seed as the snow cover was disappearing.  All six clumps look a little tattered but ready to grow.  At this point we were optimistic about the likelihood of summer flowers.

Just two weeks later conditions had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Bitter cold returned in force and the plants looked almost totally dead.  Our decision was to move on to other parts of the garden where we could focus on more positive  outcomes.  This mess would be cleaned up later.

This is the condition of these plants today.  Six of these pictured plants can be matched with the mostly dead remains shown in the second photo.  Their recovery was totally unexpected and we will watch to see just how they grow this summer.  Basal rosettes may be the outcome with flowers an additional year away.  Flowering stems of a reduced size may also be what happens here.  In either case, we are positioned to see just how Cardinal Flower recovers from the damage done by our common extreme weather.  The larger plant in the lower right corner was one that we potted up.  It also was in damaged condition from the cold but it did miss many cold nights while housed inside in the basement.  Another potted plant is just out of the picture at the right end of the upper arc of plants.  The coming summer season could be highly instructive on the life cycle of Cardinal Flower in this general area where it remains rare in the wild.

We have also devoted years of effort helping Oriental Lilies survive spring weather here.  We built a sod house that could be covered with a tarp.  Nearly three dozen plants that had each been placed in a three gallon pot survived late hard frosts only to face occasional damage during the move from the pot to the ground.  Try to picture nearly three feet of plant being shaken from an inverted pot.  A second pair of hands removed the pot so that the plant could be righted in preparation for placement in a hole.  The holder had to be standing in order for there to be enough space for the lily to drop from the pot.  Then the holder had to kneel so that the dirt ball could be placed in the hole.  That move could not be completed today for any price.  Other lilies were covered in place with huge plastic garbage cans since any part of the bud that touched the covering can would be frozen.  This season's bitter cold kept the lilies deep underground for much longer than usual.  There has been no frost since they finally broke ground in May.  If these warm conditions continue for just a few more days, we will have many sweet smelling lily flowers in a variety of colors without any of them needing protection from bitter cold.