Now That The Snow Has Melted

The resiliency of plants should not surprise. Weather extremes, now seemingly commonplace, regularly challenge not only my nerves but the natural world. And, yes, I am surprised at how well my garden bounced back from last week's freak snowstorm. 

This serves as a follow-up to show what is going on now after over 8" of wet, heavy snow blanketed Chickadee Gardens a week ago. The snow is gone (took awhile), plants are unflattening themselves and the weather is still cold. Long term, the garden may show signs of disapproval, but in this post we're dealing with the now. This from a very humbled and relieved gardener.

At first glance, it doesn't look any different from any other typical gray April day. But last week, the Ceanothus 'Blue Jeans' in the center were flat on the ground. I feared they would break under the weight of the snow but they are perking up with no real breakage.

A few scenes from the shade garden show virtually no damage. This is most likely because the fir trees protected them. We did have a lot of debris, branches, pinecones, and leaves all over the place. Those have been cleared.

A wider photograph showing Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' unharmed, a pleasant surprise.

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Barry’s Silver’ on the left had bent to the ground; it is slowly righting itself but I think I shall tie the branches together to try to help it out.

Groundcovers didn't skip a beat.

I adore the foliage color of this Philadelphus 'Aurea' and was very worried when it, too, was flat on the ground. It looks fine now and will live to continue to brighten up a shady corner for another day.

In the sunnier regions with no protection from overhead trees there was more damage. It isn't evident in this shot but there are a few holes in there.

Not much has changed here except that log in the foreground is a chunk of a cascara tree that fell.

The Arctostaphylos 'Saint Helena' in this photo was hitting the ground with so much snow. It bounced back, although it's a little lower than before.

Berberis darwinii flowers are all fine and still unopened. This is the latest that they have bloomed since planting them, perhaps due to the very cool spring we're experiencing. They are typically in full bloom the first week of April.

There are at least three hebes in this photograph, all of which were flat. The Hebe cupressoides in the foreground on the left has remained opened up from the center more than the other Hebe 'Karo Golden Esk' in the background.

Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance' suffered a broken limb in February and again last week.

Another photo of the berm garden a little closer in.

In the background the topped Cupressus macrocarpa 'Donard Gold' can be seen. Two of three had the top 2' broken off. They will be fine but it's not the best look.

A general photo of the edge of the labyrinth garden illustrating what the garden feels like to me right now. Acer macrophyllum in the background with its leaves finally coming on as well as a million flowers (half of which are on the ground from the snow), a chill in the air and a few shrubs trying desperately to bloom in a month that has struggled to see 50 degrees.

I staked a few limbs of the Rhamnus 'Variegata' out of the way of the path to see if they will right themselves. I'm prepared to do some hard pruning if that doesn't work. This flatness is a result of the snow, of course.

The remains of the native cascara tree, Rhamnus purshiana, revealing why it fell over. The rot seen here has happened with three others on the property. I have a feeling they are short-lived trees.

Hebe 'Red Edge' with a chunk out of the center that broke off in the snow.

The Brachyglottis greyi. I was certain it would not survive. How wrong I was. Ceanothus x pallidus 'Marie Simon', the brown shrub behind it to the right, was also flat on the ground. I would be more worried except it is a deciduous ceanothus and the leaf buds are just now coming on.

One of several wounds on Japanese maples. There were about five or six good-sized branches from three different trees.

Poor Oscar. The snow had nothing really to do with this rot or fungus, it started in about December. My point by showing it is that whatever chance of survival it had is likely diminished by the heavy snow and cold temperatures. It wants hot sun. It may have to come out.

I couldn't bear to cut off the damaged limb of the Myrica californica, so I taped it up with heavy duty materials. You can't see it, but it's there. What is the worst that can happen? If the limb dies, at least I tried.

Another victim of our wet cold spring. This Artemisia 'Powis Castle' is alive and well and will likely bounce back once it warms up again, but its new spring growth has certainly been delayed. Gardening isn't always pretty.

The apple trees are a full two weeks behind schedule. Still pretty.

And to end on a turkey note: Many have asked about Sweet Pea, our gigantic tom turkey. Yes, here he is, alive and well, captain of a flock of 13 feisty hens (as in chickens). FM has recently been letting everyone out of the chicken run (as if 1/3 of an acre weren't enough for them) on a daily basis to explore the orchard and find fresh bugs and grass. He follows them around with a long bamboo stick (which they are oddly obedient to) to herd them when it's time to return to their yard. Yup, my husband is a henherd. This shot of Sweet Pea makes me laugh, i.e., out exploring, having a grand ol' time making cooing and peep peep noises with an occasional gobble. He can fly away, by the way, if he wanted to. Just sayin'.

Well, now, do I feel a little silly for how emotional I was after the snow last week? No way. I am relieved. I mean I have never woken to snow at all in April here in Oregon. It was shocking. Another first (ok, there are records of trace amounts but nothing of note historically speaking), so nobody really knew how bad it would be. I assumed the worst because I saw the worst. Plants are resilient, that is my lesson. There is indeed damage, but a lot of bounce-back. The garden as a whole is about three weeks behind schedule. I'm not sure what to make of that, it's just an observation.

That's a turkey wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens - a very grateful wrap from a very grateful gardener. As always thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from fellow plant lovers! What's happening in your garden?