News events that affect your Middle Tennessee landscape
Late Spring Freeze Damage
I thought this info from Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery might be informative and helpful to those suffering plant damage from the recent spring low temps in parts of the U.S. About the fourth paragraph down he talks about plant physiology and prospects for recovery.
Tony Avent, Plant Delights Nursery:
"We made it through winter in great shape, but then early spring jumped up and bit us in the you know where. Gardeners in many parts of the country were hit with devastating cold in early April after spring temperatures had already fooled many plants into beginning to grow. Web ordering provides us with a fascinating glimpse into gardeners' real-time state of mind. Everyone was going crazy ordering during the warm first week of April, only to be shell-shocked days later when the cold weather returned. We can see folks just starting to recover enough to think positively about gardening again...perhaps we need an on-line gardening therapist to help with the recovery...where is Dr. Philadelphus when you need him?
In Juniper Level, we had been in the 80's for two weeks, before encountering five consecutive nights below freezing with the worst night reaching 22 degrees F. A couple of days later, we got to enjoy a smashing hailstorm, followed by an entire day of 50+ mph winds. I know this is a typical spring day to many midwest residents, but in our neck of the woods, it's a big deal.
Although we covered quite a few perennials in the garden and kept the damage to a minimum on those plants, the trees and shrubs were not as lucky. Magnolias, celtis, crape myrtles, and idesia were fried to a crisp. I read a laughable article in our local paper just a day before the freeze explaining how native plants would not be hurt and how they should be planted instead of plants from foreign lands. Guess what...native oaks, walnuts, fringe trees, redbuds, maples, and many more look like my darkened efforts to cook toast. I guess I should have let my native plants read the article.
Now it's a matter of wait and see if the plants will recover. Many of these plants have dormant buds along the stem, which under normal circumstances would not develop. The plants must first get over the cold shock, then we will learn if the physiology of the plant will allow the dormant buds to develop without some additional stimulus such as an additional number of chilling hours. In many cases, the death of a terminal bud may be enough to change the hormonal balance that often keeps the dormant buds from growing. In any case, it will take 2-8 weeks of warm weather before we will know for sure what to expect from our plants. There will be some cases where the plants only sprout from the base and others where they may be completely dead. Not only is each plant different, but the physical state of each plant is another part of the equation. Plants on the north side of a building may have remained dormant and avoided damage, while the same clone in a warmer location may have been killed. Many nurserymen who had recently dug balled and burlapped crape myrtles actually saved their plants. The process of digging and root removal caused the plant not to begin growing as early. These dug plants are mostly fine.
It seems that nursery growers in the wholesale production regions of Tennessee got hit the hardest, with several growers suffering losses in the 100,000's of plants as temperatures dropped into the mid-teens after many plants were in full leaf. Our thoughts go out to them during what will be a financially difficult time recovering and staying in business."
Source: Gardenweb©2007