GARDENING CHALLENGES & GARDENING SUCCESSES

By Catherine Cooper

This month I’m going to do a typically British thing, and from my time living in Massachusetts, also a very New England thing: talk about the weather. This past year has presented several challenges, which have tested plants and gardeners alike.

A year ago we were at the start of a warm and dry summer. Watering restrictions were to become more stringent than usual and rain events were few and far between. Fortunately, hand watering was still permitted where I live, and it led to evenings spent not only watering edible crops and a few new plantings, but also some established plants that I couldn’t bear to lose. Even the drought tolerant plants struggled at times; I have a few bald patches in some creeping phlox and ground cover thyme, and a couple of rue plants decided enough was enough. I resigned myself to the fact that if I lost some things I often had some in other parts of the garden where conditions seemed less stressful, and if these events were to indicate that I hadn’t applied the rule of “right plant, right place”, I would have space for something new. However, the tenacity of things was to surprise me. Even the black-eyed susans that looked ready to admit defeat are back again this year as if nothing had happened.

So in some ways it was a relief to see last year’s growing season come to an end as it had been a struggle to maintain important plants, and with the dormancy of perennials I was no longer reminded how some of them were less than happy with a long, hot and dry summer. In eastern Massachusetts the winter seemed at first to even things out. Mild, with almost no snow it looked as if we were going to get some compensation for the struggles of earlier months. As this year began we were even getting decent amounts of rainfall, so when Mother Nature decided to give us a taste of the Arctic at the beginning of February it was to have serious consequences. The lack of snow on the ground was to compound matters as there was no insulation against the bitter cold that was with us for twenty four hours or so. The damaging effects weren’t immediately apparent, although if memory serves me correct, reports of damage to this year’s peach crop were quick to come in. Peach trees, along with several other flowering woody plants were at a critical point in their bud development that this sudden blast of intense cold destroyed their flowers. For the most part it was not enough to kill the plants, although any already suffering other stresses such as insect or fungal problems, were likely to find this cold just too much. However, spring would show that certain plants did not bloom as normal. Most notable was the damage to ornamental cherries and plums and even that rugged stalwart, forsythia, was hard hit. So yes, I like many had no forsythia flowers to bring an early splash of spring color, but in the case of these plants they have flushed out leaves just fine and look as if they are none the worse for their experience.

The mildness of winter generally continued and as things burst into growth it became apparent that while many plants survived last summer’s troubles with little or no consequences, there were a few that did die, or more intriguingly are in a state of limbo in that I can see stunted shoots at the base of the plant, but no growth is happening. This may be due to the final wintery attack which came in the form of a late(ish) frost on May 17th. Plants as well as people had decided that cold danger was past, but on that occasion we all needed to protect vulnerable plants where possible. It was a salutary reminder that it can be quite late in May before it is safe to plant annuals and tender vegetables without need for occasional frost protection. However, while it might not be too onerous to cover vegetables and annual planters, the same cannot be said for general garden plantings and some of us, me included, got to experience frost damage to tender new growth on certain trees and perennials. A few days after the frost the extent of the damage was visible, and on plants that had not normally experienced this. Among those displaying browning tips in my garden were a European beech, giant fleece flowers, a Tiger Eyes sumac, and the new growth on andromeda. Even certain perennial geraniums weren’t spared. However, while this damage looks ugly, for the most part it was superficial. The fleece flowers have bounced back, new

◁ Playing "wait and see" with Aralia 'Sun King'

△ Fleece flower frost damage growth masking the damage and they will bloom just a little less prolifically and a bit later than normal. Shrubs and trees are slower to respond, or more accurately lose the visible signs of damage. It will happen, and for this year it is as if nature decided they needed pruning. The damaged foliage will ultimately fall off, and providing there are no further stresses, growth will resume. The calycanthus currently has reduced foliage and flowers, but as a mature shrub it will recover. The same probably can’t be said for one of the andromeda; it has never been happy in its location and looking at how attractive the nine bark are in full bloom, I feel it will be better to replace it with another native shrub. I have two perennials that I am waiting to see what happens: an Itoh peony and a Sun King aralia. Both are displaying stunted shoots which seem to show no desire to grow. I suspect they are suffering from more than weather hardships, as Japanese beetle grubs are still a reduced issue in parts of my garden.

On the plus side, a couple of things have relished last summer’s heat. For the first time in about three years my yucca Color Guard is going to flower and will produce four flower spikes. Red valerian is also doing well along with all the other drought lovers my garden suits. The exuberance of native golden rod, daisy fleabane and bergamot

▷ Sumac Tiger Eyes, showing both withered leaves and healthy new growth

△ Frost damage barely visible 3 weeks later - note reduced flowers though is undaunted, although I am having to carefully nurture the common milkweed which has disappeared from some locations this year. Some of the invasives are also thriving, but at least where the hypericum is concerned, the hypericum beetles have made a resurgence this year and while they won’t reduce the overall number of plants they will hopefully stop them setting seed.

All this goes to prove one of the things that we gardeners know: one year is never the same as another. Each year brings different challenges, which hopefully we manage to surmount. Whether we overcome them or not, the wonderful thing about gardening is that it is a continual learning experience - a chance to flex mental as well as physical muscles!

Born in England, Catherine learned to garden from her parents and from that developed a passion for plants. Catherine is in charge of the greenhouse at Weston NurseriesChelmsford. When not at Weston Nurseries, she can often be found in her flower beds or tending to an ever-increasing collection of houseplants.