Once more into the garden. . .

Daffodils

It's been a tough couple of weeks in terms of weather and politics. While Maine's winters always extend through March, this year is harder than the past four. I think it's because the cold started so early and never really relented. But. Spring will come. The daffodils are full of self confidence as they poke through the duff, ready to Put On A Show. Soon. Not quite yet.

We had some winter damage this year. And for the first time deer took a toll. John thinks it may have been because this was the first year Jasper wasn't here. He's also blaming the abundance of turkeys on Jasper's absence. It's possible. Jasper never chased any of them, but I'm sure his scent was everywhere. I miss him still. I wonder if having his image everywhere makes things worse, but I love to look at him. Half of the benefit of having a dog is just having something so beautiful with you. And so graceful. 

But I digress.

Winter damage on Rhododendron

We had some of the same damage on the rhododendrons as we had last year, though not as bad. Given that it was a harsher winter temperature-wise, I'm thinking that it may indeed be wind damage. The plants opposite are much more exposed than the other ones by the house, under the Copper Beech that are mostly unharmed.

Deer damage on Columnar Plum

We also had what I think is deer damage this  year. Our columnar plum, which I planted 3-4 years ago, and has finally started to take it's columnar form (with much encouragement from my pruning shears) is very likely to die. She is girdled. It's odd that this tree, against the house, suffered more damage than the more distant fruit trees.

Deer damage on Stanley Plum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I also made a mistake by thinking that southwest injury was the only threat to the fruit tree trunks in winter. The Stanley plum, above, was damaged, though it will likely heal up. I'm hoping. My thought was that the plastic wraps I have used for the past 4 years are a pain to use and store, and I know that growers often paint the trunks with white latex paint to protect from southwest injury. 

Apple buds

Southwest injury happens when there is bright sun, but cold conditions (common in Maine). The tree trunks heat up during the day (with no leaves to shade them from that wonderful sun), but when dark comes temperatures plummet quickly and split tree trunks. =dead tree. Because we hadn't seen many deer in the yard, I didn't consider that the plastic wraps were also protecting them from the deer. Sigh. Lesson learned. Next year I'll go back to the wraps, and take my licks this year.

 Most plants are still holding out for longer days and/or warmer weather.  Apples, plum and peach still have their buds locked up tight. Blueberries too. 

Blueberry buds

Plum buds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But others are less circumspect, if not giving in completely to that desire to leaf out. 

The honeysuckle is one such plant (on an arbor by our patio,) and the hellebores are in serious negotiations. 

Hellobore

Rhubarb peeks out

Meanwhile, the rhubarb is poking through, cold be damned, and the wild geraniums are showing their optimism as well. Both of those latter plants are pretty cold tolerant, so I figure they know what they're about.
 

When I was a student at the University of Maryland, I had a plant ID class that required us to start going out into the wild and identifying plants in February. It was astonishing to me, a very green student (forgive the pun), how many things were starting to grow in the forests in that Maryland area. By March, I had identified and collected many forest floor plants, including trout lily, which I had never noticed before. It was amazing that I had always perceived that spring had not arrived, when it fact it had. One just had to look for it. 

Wild geraniums (Cranesbill)

 

 

 

[Note: Sorry about the formatting strangeness of this post. Sometimes Blogger makes it very hard to manipulate images and text. . . ]