This is a new one for me. I live in Central Illinois and we have only had one snow fall and cold spell. Granted, it was enough for me. I have several Hosta and other perennials bursting with new growth. My Korean Spice Viburnum is full of fresh new buds. I don't have to worry about the Hydrangea because the deer had them one night as a late night snack. I'm afraid I won't have any flowers come Spring. I'm guessing it will get freezing cold before then. What can I do or will they be OK?
Midwest mild Winter
Mulch and cover very well but let them breathe. Don't use heavy plastic unless you know it will hit hard within 24 hours and remove as soon as possible. Leaving plants under heavy plastic can lead to disease. Then pray you don't get hit with weather like Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas get having right now. I'm content with the one big storm we had in Nov/Dec.
Hi sodcutter and leaflady,
We are having the same "early spring" growth here in southeast Missouri. My hellebores are blooming and many daffodils are budded. Even tulips are showing their tips above the mulch. I've been gardening here in the same spot for 30 years and don't remember any years quite this warm.
I have deepened the mulch and will cover the plants with pine needles and oak leaves for the next cold spell, but how many times will I need to do this all winter???? Last year I gave up covering, uncovering, and recovering the plants, and the hellebore blooms all froze. What a dissapointment it was. Oh well, guess there is not a lot we can do about it.
The sad part is, I just ordered a bunch more hellebores!
What mild winter weather? Where? LOL!
LOL. It'll be back next week. It decided to take a vacation.
I'm a bit farther North, near O'Hare and I too have noticed growth.
My clematis really shocked me, it normally doesn't sprout til may.
My daylillies also have started, but they are probably much more hearty than my jackmanii.
but - we just hit a real COLD snap. Teens for daily highs -- so i hope it does OK.
It's still so cold down here that we still have snow and ice. It is melting but only when temps are above freezing or the sun is out.
Hi, Not sure what you call mild. But here it's been very cold and icy. We finally got power again after 9 days of being without after the ice storm of the century. Good thing we had a fireplace and running water. I had to heat water on the camp stove just so I could water all my plants. I lost a lot of seedlings because I couldn't keep them warm. I've started over with them. lol I've lived in MO all my life and have never been through 2 ice storms like the ones this winter. I'm almost ready to move south. Oh wait I just did move south, about 15 miles. Guess I better start looking for other states huh?
Starm warm everyone.
Robin, where is Stoutland? Near Springfield or St. Louis? From your 6a zone I'm going to guess Springfield. Our son and his wife were without power for 13 days. An aquaintance in St. Louis was without power for over 2 weeks from the first storm. St. Louis has been hit hard this winter. We've had some cold days, but I can remember winters with lots of snow and ice and way below zero temps not counting the wind chill factor.
It's 45* here now so that snow and ice won't last long. Then comes the dreaded mud. YUCK! I'm vaccuming today so I'll have a head start on a clean house. I'm also washing all the dog and cat mats, rugs, pillows, and the 4 cats and 4 dogs today. 2 dogs and 4 cats already done. I need to wash and dry towels before I can do the other 2 dogs.
GOD bless and keep each of you.
Toxicodendron----- Nice to see someone fron my old stomping grounds on here. I have spent many hours around Piedmont and Greenville. It sure is not been very warm in the central part of the state and up into the KC area. We did have some warm weather though and it did cause some of my Hosta to try to emerge. But with two ice storms one right after the other there is nothing being active but Heuchera (coral bells) and some Tiarellas. I had Heuchera froze into solid blocks of clear ice and they were just real nice as far as color went. They went thru full freezing twice but still look as colorful as summer.
Stoutland is about 65 miles NE of Springfield. Follow I-44 up just past Lebanon. Good luck with all the washing, I dread that stuff. I won't do our animals until it's warmer. Especially the horses. They look like overgrown drowned muddy rats. I had alot of plants come up, but now they are frozen. I'll worry about them come April. If they come up good, if not, I'm going to have fun at the plant stores, hehehe
It got to low 40s today and more ice and snow melted but all of it has refrozen again tonight and will remain frozen for quite awhile from what I understand. I am now ready for spring. I am tired of the ice and below zero wind chills. lol.
Hi Oz, nice to see ya on here gain. You should have gotten a picture of the coral bells when they were frozen. That would have made a neat picture.
Hi Ozarkian! Are you formerly from my area, or just a visitor? I live north of Piedmont at GadsHill, where Jesse James made the first Missouri train robbery.
I guess we jinxed ourselves talking about the warm weather.
Actually, it is probably a good thing it finally got cold. Otherwise, the plants would be even more vulnerable to a cold snap in March or even April. Maybe a few pesky bugs will get killed...I hope.
Of course, it is not a good thing that so many residents had to suffer without electricity this month. We were lucky here and did not get the ice.
Bundle up, everyone...we are in for a pretty good cold spell now!
Mosquitos I really hope get reduced in numbers this winter. And chiggers and ticks and other itchy bugs. I want a mild itchy summer. Prefer no bug bites but will settle. Toxic, glad to hear you didn't get the ice. You are one of the lucky few.
Toxico------ No I never lived there have some friends from St louis. that were from there. I kept a boat at Piedmont park a couple of years and also up at Webb Creek. I know several people from the area. Some I have not seen in many year. Names of Janis, Earnie and Mc Alister. It is a very nice area. It was my second choice fro a retirement area. I should have done it. Lake of the Ozarks is not a quiet place anymore.
Robynznest----- I wonder if you have been to that nursery down by Ash Grove called Hill Top Farms. I have a small hosta collection and we are going to be heading down there in late April.
Hey, I see we have a new feature, a post ID number. That could be handy for referring someone to a specific post.
It's 4 degrees here this morning, what have you'all got?
my thermometer is reading a big fat 0 with the winds -12.
I dont even wanna leave the house today.
though they say it's gonna be even colder this weekend.
BRRRR!
At least the wind is not blowing too much here today. Supposed to see a little bit of snow tomorrow...it will be the first time this winter if it really develops (except for a couple of flakes that went by a time or two).
Stay warm...
think I'll build up a nice fire in the Jotul stove today.
It snowing here now gggeeeezzzz not this time!
Rusty--- I do not mean to be mean spirited but I hope it snows now and not on the 3rd and 4th of March when I got to drive down there from Lake of the Ozarks for the Elks State Bowling Tournament.
Yeah, in March I want to see all grass and no snow or ice. I drove my golf cart again today at work and got it stuck several times and some of my coworkers borrrowed it once and they got stuck also. I had to help push them off the ice. Another coworker got his Tiger Truck, which are small trucks, stuck in our storage area. I did a 180 back there when I went to put my cart up. It is a mess out here and the snow is not helping. Tomorrow I am gonna just drive my truck so I can quit spinning tires. We probably got close to 2 inches at work today. About an inch here at home.
Well, it got about 2 or 3 inches snow! In March I gonna go on road trip to Calif to see my brother there.
Just got home from work a little while ago. It is COLD! Light snow most of the day but very pretty. I had a hard time driving on the way home, not so much that the roads were that bad but that the snow was glittering like diamonds and I kept looking at it! LOL Do any of you know whether the really cold temps are why it seems to glitter like that? It was just beautiful in the headlights and on the ground.
Tetly, I think it's because there isn't much moisture in it. Don't quote me!
We have an inch or so of snow. My daffodils were just breaking the ground and I saw a hint of leaves. Then it got cold and snowed so they went back to sleep. It's about 12* and clear. I'm not going to like this arctic blast!
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/ia.html This was a neat link I got from one of the threads.
Heat wave now. We started out at 3 dgrees this morning. Now we are up to 17. I was told all this cold weather will be good for the fruit trees. It stops early budding and helps kill the pests off.
we're a whopping 12°
had a heat wave the other day at 31°
Greetings from Independence, or I'ce this time of year. 6a lens in 5b, just east of KC. It was 5 above this AM but our weather hero says we' re going into the 50s any day now. My witch hazel has been blooming for a month now, I planted it only last spring. It bloomed last Nov but I crossed my fingers and I think it was just a little transplant confusion. Sedum is up but still in tight little nubs. One daff is about an inch out of the ground but that bed, I dug it up extensively last fall and this bulb was probably disturbed and is lieing too shallowly now. No sign of crocuses yet! We do have 2" of snow on the ground which may have something to do with it.
The big news is I'm starting the veggie bed from seeds and they've been just leaping out of the pots. The artichokes seedlings literally pushed the lid off the covered heated tray so I had to transfer them to an unheated tray. They're still under the grow light. I'm afraid if they try to make a break for it, and get out of the seedling room, the patrolcat will provoke a shootout before they make it out of the house. Leeks and hyssop are also very enthusiastic. Anyone else starting seeds yet?
I have loads of seeds started, 5 different daturas, 7 different hibiscus, ruella hyacinth beans, love in a puff, ginger, cardoon, catnip, lilies, avacados, 3 brugs, pecan trees, honeysuckle shrub,and a bunch of other annuals and perrenials to numerous to mention. All of it in my dining room. I sure wish I had a green house. Can't wait for tomorrow we are starting a warm trend, by the end of next weeks we are supposed to be in the 50's. I sure hope they're right this time. I have to admit I am one of those people who asked for all this cold temps. I'm tired of dealing with the summer nasties and their biting habits. Nasty bugs, yuk. Who else has started seeds?
Robin
Robyn~ I did start some pansies in a homemade greenhouse out of a milk jug, and I've wintersown several containers.
Right now, I just nearly froze my fingers off as I barricaded patio furniture around my redbud! The rats on 4 hooves have invited themselves into my gardens for the last 2 nights and I'm not happy with Bambi's kin. Yep..I know they are hungry and desperate with all the snow, but they do not have an open invitation here! And the pumpkins wanted me to leave those rats a treat! The treat I have in mind is not what the deer would want to eat...;0)
It is -17 wind chill outside right now.
Brrrr! It's now 13* wind chill: 1*.
It was supposed to get to at least 30* today but it only got to 26*. And the wind chill was close to zero it felt like. We all froze today. All of the buildings were cold even with the heat on.
I have 5 hooved rats, and a few wild ones, too. Except mine cost me about $200. a month for hay and feed. I let them eat the red buds. I trim them up once grass starts growing and the trees look beautiful again. The pond started thawing today. Yea, soon I won't have to haul water for the monsters.
I started Oleander and Confederate Rose, Fire cracker vine and some Butterfly weed tonight. I even went to the good Samaritan center today and bought a bunch of pots for a couple of dollars.
Hubby just brought in a couple of packages with seeds in them, gotto go check em out. It feels like Christmas every time I get the mail.
Oh sound like having bad storm coming way...It now 23* wind chill: 15*