The Tally So Far

It has been about two weeks since our week long plunge into outer space-like cold, and here is what I know so far. The Japanese maples have done far better than expected. It seems that just about all of them had a few buds that hadn't opened yet. The buds that had opened are toast. The ones that hadn't have now opened and seem to be okay. Hopefully these little sugar factories will carry these plants on to future growth.

Acer shirasawanum ("Palmifolium" and "Autumn Moon") looks pretty good. Same story as with A. palmatum, except few leaf buds had opened.

Acer japonicum looks pretty bad. Two cultivars. Both seem to have no good foliage for the moment. Adventitious buds in reserve? Some say not. A full report to follow in the coming weeks.

Acer robustum. Looking good.

Acer sieboldianum and A. pseudosieboldianum look terrible. The latter might have a few buds emerging at its base. Apart from that, just dried herbarium specimens being retained at the moment.

Acer pseudosieboldianum takesimense doesn't appear to have survived winter. No emerging foliage, toasted or otherwise. It was late in getting planted.

Acer mandschuricum looks horrible but A. carpinifolium stayed tightly in bud and looks perfect.

The snakebarks are hit and miss. A. grosseri hersii looks good. A. tegmentosum straight species okay, but "Joe Witt" leafed out and got hammered. No new buds apparent as of yet. To tell you the truth, I don't expect new ones, but hope springs eternal. A. capillipes: one in an exposed site a goner, I think; the other in a protected site (in a container no less) has about a quarter supply of good leaves. A. pennsylvanicum was still in bud during the cold and looks great. A. davidii was not and looks horrible. A. rufinerve has a 50/50 prognosis. "White Tigress" looks okay.

There's more to life than just maples. Hornbeams, for instance! They're all toasty, but I'm hoping for a supply of adventitious buds to make themselve apparant before long, especially on C. koreana, laxiflora, henryana, japonica (please!), cordata, and a few others. C. polyneura I have my doubts about. To my utter amazement, C. kawakamii, a native to Taiwan, seems okay. More later on that one.

Styrax grandiflora, a zone 7 rated plant, might have expired. I'm still waiting on my Franklinia to show some life. It doesn't especially look dead, but it hasn't leafed at al yet either. The Halesia carolineana that I didn't cover, looks great. The Halesia diptera magniflora that I did cover looks wretched. Davidia still in a coma, as are Styrax confusa and hemsleyana.

The Viburnums all survived, but flower-less, and they look utterly bedraggled. My "Jane" magnolia is leafing out with poorly shaped leaves. The barberries look okay. Surprising, the evergreen forms look unflustered. B. koreana looks intensely beautiful, as well as my complete favorite B. oblongifolia.

As I remember other things and as I see what happens as a little time progresses, I'll add more. I'd like to hear other's observations. Hopefully, what we experienced this spring is a once in a hundred years event.

Scott

All Viburnum dilatatum and Viburnum plicatum (including V. p. var. tomentosum) types are vanquished. They may have had capacity for latent/adventitious buds, but if the bark has broken due to exploding vascular systems, then regeneration from the base may be all that can be hoped for. RIP 'West Olive', 'Dart's Red Robin', 'Mary Milton', 'Fireworks', 'Popcorn'.

V. sargentii: fried.

V. sieboldii: formerly flowerbudded, but foliage fine.

Meanwhile, all natives are on their way to blooming (except for two V. acerifolium which looks like the flower buds are lost). All the group in the leatherleaf style and comrades are fine. All the evergreen types were somewhat singed, but no outright death. All the fragrant types were well into (mostly 75%) full bloom, so flowers ended but plants are OK.

Winterberry took it on the chin, with most clones having emergent foliage that blacked out. Hope they re-emerge.

Styrax obassia: toast.

Pterocarya: Über toast! All 25'+/- (12" caliper) of it.

Most Nyssa had every emerging bud/leaf fried. Old ones will recover. Young 'Wildfire', Red Rage™, 'Zydeco Twist', and 'Variegated' are compost.

Got the grass mowed finally, since didn't need to spend time on other plants.

Edited for genus error: Pterocarya, not Pterostyrax...

This message was edited Apr 23, 2007 8:34 PM

Wow, and that's just the list of damaged stuff! You two have very impressive collections! I'm sorry to hear about all that damage, though.

Back in my Franklinia days, they were always late in leafing out. Seemed like they usually came out with the Taxodium leaves.

I only lost 2 roses: 'Stanwell Perpetual' and 'Fair Bianca'. They got tipped back by deer early on. The ground froze and then we had a freak spell of 50-60 degree days. The wind wicked all the water right out ot the stems.

Everything looks hunky-dory here except my poor Parrotia persica 'Vanessa' got fried to some degree. It could have been my fault since I covered it and left it covered (I know, I know). It will live but might need a new leader. Can that change the habit of what should be a columnar tree? I did cover my japanese/asian maples that were leafed out or near leafed out and they are almost completely fine except a few damaged buds. Bring on the cicadas.

Willis

Well, having seen the woody plant carnage in Scott's and VV's area in person last week, I can honestly say that this is one of the few times in my gardening life when I am glad to have lived farther north and to have had a later spring. Yes, we had a cold snap in Michigan too, and it was similar in temperature range to that in the countryside around Cincinnati (upper teens to low 20s), though the city itself fared a little better. I think my lowest temp in this stretch was 19F, about the same as that in N KY away from the city as it turns out.

But in my years of looking at woody plants, I personally have never seen so many woody plants leafed out so badly cold damaged. MANY magnolias and maples and viburnums so many other genera of plants had brown leaves and foliage looking like so many brown rags. It was very sad, heartbreaking in fact. I was thrilled to have the chance to meet Scott and VV and to visit Spring Grove and a new arboretum in KY. But one would hope it would be under better circumstances. One can look at an experience like this with interest, to see how various plants fare given a major stress like this. But if it were me I would be heartbroken too, especially with specimens that may have been decades old. It does seem that most North American natives fared better than their asiatic counterparts.

Here in Michigan the cold damage was minimal. A few magnolias with lost flowers, mostly the stellatas and relatives. Most are just now beginning to bloom, later than usual. Forsythias got fried in bloom (OK with me, I am a forsythia scrooge). Corylopsis pauciflora in full bloom here got fried for the first time ever I recall. The other corylopsis are now in full bloom and the flowers were unscathed even though the buds were slightly open. My Stachyurus praecox opened part way but the flowers remained brown and have not opened more. But the vegetative buds look fine.

Like David, I didn't think I'd ever be relieved to be in z4. Our winters still pretty much suck, but I'm grateful to have avoided what's happening to so many. The most shocking aspect of this ordeal is just how large a section of the country was affected by the cold snap, and how deeply it went into the south. I planted a number of marginal plants last year and all seemed to do just fine. The Stuartia, Carpinus japonica, M. glyptostroboides 'Ogon', Lindera, etc. are all looking good. Heck, this just might be the year my Redbud finally puts on a show.

Decumbent, how did your Dawn Redwood make out? I remember a couple weeks ago you said it didn't look so good.

One of my two magnolias by the deck bloomed, and then they got zapped. But they're both budding out again now. The ninebark started to leaf out, then it got zapped, now it's put on fresh new growth. Everything else (barberry, inkberry, itea, grasses) look fine. A few perennials got zapped, but look as though they'll recover. I will be looking at hardiness zones with a gimlet eye from now on.

Claypa,

Good question! I'll check it out tomorrow and report back.

I noticed today that my Styrax formosanus formosanus has leaves. I was concerned for that one because I'm a little leary of Taiwan natives making it here in Zone Six and also because Heronswood was the only place that ever offered it and they have decided not to carry it anymore.

I also noticed today Viburnum dentatum (seedlings) with good, healthy flower buds. The Aronias are in full bloom and quite healthy, but those things are rocks!

Scott

Living here in Zone4-5 (Last winter coldest was -23F) My Parrotia Vanessa's both are happy and healthy, All cornus doing well Kousa 'Joyous Summer', 'Satomi', and 2 different Alterfolia 'Argentea', Hamamelis 'Arnolds promise' (now still in bloom for 8 weeks). When you southerners were freezing we were locked into a moist warm front on the west side of the rockies and the east side was freezing. Thank you Japanese Current. I have to say reading this is a depressing event of what happened to Scott and John. Sorry guys. This is the only dead one I got this winter and I planted it this way. : ]

A quick glance at the Metasequoia this afternoon revealed that new foliage has emerged, particularly along the lower branches. It is about half cloaked at the moment. Hopefully it is gathering momentum.

Scott

I noticed the tips were all dead on my itea, so I cut them back to the first out-facing buds. The ninebark is gaining on it fast. Nice pic Steve, only you could make a snag look lovely.

Among the lost here is one small Japanese Maple Viridis. It just stopped budding out in its tracks. Every hydrangea has been knocked back to the ground. New shoots are emerging. The tree peonies lost about half the flower buds. I actually lost a couple of astilbes. I didn't think that could happen. The iris foliage is blistered and puckered. I had heavily pruned a Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki' in late March. It was well budded out when the cold hit. The leaves just completely browned. I have no doubt this plant will fully recover as there is decent new growth already and this is a rather obnoxious weedy tree anyway. I just didn't think, given its coarsness, that anything could set it back. There has been actual branch die back. Who new? Surprises? Every Enkianthus, regardless of hardiness rating or stage of leaf out, survived unscathed. One right next to an Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil' that got some browning. Those hardiness ratings are defnintely not set in stone are they?

My losses are puny and infintessimal compared to VV and Decumbent. Sorry guys.

That's true. (((hugs))) to both of you.

Out here in Kansas about 80% of all woody plants were leafed out with new growth(and blooms in many cases) ranging from about 2" to 10" long. Everything that was out was completely wiped out with few exceptions. Everything from 100' tall native Bur Oaks down to 2' Spirea bushes was blitzed. It looked like a giant death zone after the cold finally ended. I hit 19°F one night and 22°F the next night during the coldest part of this cold spell. If that wasn't bad enough, we didn't get about freezing until nearly noon on both of those days and we had significant sun on one of those days which probably also added to the destruction. We also shattered previous record lows on these 2 days by about 7°F or 8°F. All of the Redbuds, Dogwoods, Crab Apples, Magnolia(most actually had finished flowering before the cold spell), Prunus sps.(Cherries, Peaches, Plums, etc.), Pears, Amelanchier sps., Viburnum sps., Kerria japonica, etc., had all of their blooms wiped out. A couple of Viburnum(V. 'Chippewa, and V. x burkwoodii) were only partially wiped out and many Apples(both Crab Apples and regular Apples) pushed out a few blooms after the cold spell. Interestingly, the only wood plant flowering when the cold hit that suffered no damage at all was the Beach Plum(Prunus maritima). Also, the only woody plants that had new growth out that suffered only very minimal or no damage at all were, Viburnum x pragense, V. rhytidophyllum, V. dentatum 'Blue Muffin', and Aesculus parviflora var. serotina 'Rogers'. All other Aesculus sps. were damaged moderately and had most of their blooms severely damaged, including the native A. glabra. The same goes for other species of Viburnum. And in contrast to Cincinnati, all of the Japanese Maples here had 4"-6" of new growth out on them and now it all looks like limp light brown hanging strange seed structures or something. All of the native Silver Maples and Box Elders(or Ash Leaf Maple) had all of their new growth zapped in a similar manner, and the developing seed of the Silver Maples and cultivated Red Maples were killed in their tracks. So, during the first week(last week) after the 2 week cold spell we've been bombarded with tons of 2/3 to 3/4 developed Maple seeds dropping. Also, a note on non-woody plants, most every herbaceous perennial was up and growing and most all were turned to piles of brown mush, although a few did have some leaves survive. The only herbaceous plant to not have any damage were Helleborus sps.

I never thought I'd see the day when Lilacs, Peonies(some look like they will bloom still and most tree peonies only had some of their flowers killed), and early summer blooming Magnolias were wiped out by cold. Some plants have only had their new growth killed, while others look to be dead to the ground or completely killed and most had at least their last flush of growth from last year killed off as well as their new growth. The few trees which hadn't leafed out when the cold hit look to have done much better in surviving the cold spell with minimal damage. Interestingly, most evergreen Oaks, evergreen Magnolias, and other broad leafed evergreens did much better than their deciduous counterparts. Last Thursday was the first day I noticed any new growth after the cold spell, when some Oaks which hadn't leafed out yet began to break bud.

Hopefully most everything will recover from this unprecedented late long cold spell for all of us!

That's true, but I was talking about their new spring growth. Only a few broad leafed evergreens had damage to older leaves, but also only a few had any significant damage to newly emerging leaves and growth also. The only broad leafed evergreens which hadn't put out new growth before the cold hit, were Rhododendrons, Southern Magnolias, and a couple of Lithocarpus sps.(most all of them are now breaking bud)

Another note about some of the conifers, is that I've noticed many Junipers(and a few Thuja) now are showing brown, dead foliage that extends in about 2"-3" from their growth tips now. Most of these hadn't put out new growth yet, but apparently there was enough sap flow into the outer stems for them to have been killed or damaged.

I think we'll see damage here in mid/ north Tennessee for quite some years, but quite surprisingly, I can find nothing that was actually killed, although definitely burned at the tops and outer reaches of a lot of roadside trees.

Luckily, we got some decent rain directly afterwards; I think it's helping a lot. Such a pity that we were in the mid 80's before the cold struck. We had a spectacular bloom on the redbuds, the multitudes of cherries and plums - I got a feeling next year will be barely a blip.

Just to say that my heart goes out to all you folks across the lower midwest and upper south -- it sounds like there was a band of damage in that area that was greatest, and I suspect something seen once every few decades at best. Impossible to tell of course whether these very erratic changes in the jet stream position are really a function of global warming or just something that is a freak occurence. I would certainly like to know how things have fared after a month or two have passed, when I suspect the casualties will be apparent.

Here in Michigan, my Butterflies magnolia is just coming into bloom, as are Centennial and Galaxy - unscathed. With the recent abundant rain, redbuds and dogwoods just swelling their floral buds. Cherries are in full bloom. I feel lucky to have missed this.

You are david5311, you are. My magnolia (Dr. Merrill) is draped with browns shreds.

Snapple, don't give up on your "Viridis." Mine looked totally fried, but I am seeing new buds emerging. In fact, several of my palmatums are showing new signs of life.

Scott

An update to the carnage listed above...

•Viburnum dilatatum (all clones) will have significant twig and branch death. Some plants may be starting back from ground level.

•Viburnum plicatum and Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum (all clones) will have significant twig and branch death. Most plants will be starting back from ground level.

•Viburnum sargentii (all clones) will have significant twig and branch death. All my plants were smaller (24" or less) and will not pass go or collect $200. I just hope that they will start back from ground level.

•Stuartia pseudocamellia...I just want to cry.

•Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum 'Shoshoni Shishkabob'...

•Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum 'Burnt Popcorn'...

Oh I'm so sorry to see how many have been lost or had considerable damage.

•Viburnum plicatum Newport™ Nuked...

•Viburnum (japonicum x dilatatum) 'Charred Chippewa'...

•Malus x 'Full Sails Flambé'...

Oh Geeze VV - There just isn't anything to say.


Scott, You're right. The Viridis is trying to make a comeback. It looks pretty stingy though at this point. It remains to be seen if I will have more than the trunk and one limb.

Resin:

I purposely selected that picture.

That is a good opportunity to show contrast between introduced exotic Viburnum species like Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum and native/indigenous species like the flanking members in that shot, Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum).

Minor tip crisping occurred on some native species of viburnums, which one might expect had somewhere in their genetic history experienced these kinds of conditions. Incredible incineration inflicted by advective cooling wreaked havoc with the exotic species, which one might surmise had never had to adapt to these conditions.

I do have plenty more blackhaw. 'Summer Magic', Crimson Robe™, and a number of as-yet unnamed seedlings perambulate around the Valley. The plant to the left in the 'Burnt Popcorn' picture is under evaluation and just might get named if it continues to exhibit upright rounded habit (in the vein of 'Golden Glory' cherry dogwood), heavy annual flowering and fruiting, and handsome burgundy reddish fall color.

I am considering a Distillers Series™ for my selections of KY native viburnums. After this stressful spring, I need something to take the edge off.

I know of at least one exotic that sailed through the cold spell almost without issue: Lonicera maackii. Clean as a whistle, all fifty million of them in my county.

Scott

Thanks for reminding me; I meant to post these on a previous thread.

About the only joy gotten from the Easter blast was that it inflicted injury on invasives.

Lonicera maackii and Rosa multiflora, doubly damaged.

Here's the mangled multiflora rose.

VV,

I had scrolled to the bottom of the thread to read it and had to scroll upwards to read your entries. They got better the higher I got. I nearly choked on my Fudge Round at 'Shoshoni Shishkabob'! Sorry to see years of growth burnt down. Perhaps a trip down to Shadow's place is in order to begin the "healing process." We were far enough behind you that we had a few burnt leaves and flowers but no real damage except to Jap. Maples, some crabs etc. Oddly enough, 'Dart's Red' Spirea had stem kill. Oh, and some later flowering silver maples had their seeds frozen off. I've not had time to document, perhaps early tomorrow morning. I had slightly different V. sieboldii experience than you. 'Wavecrest' had a few flowers completely frozen but most intact and viable while 20% of the foliage is more malformed due to the cold.

Scott- Interesting that A. shirasawanum would be less damaged than A. pseudosieboldianum. I had always thought of it as less tough than A. p. I left a A. pseudosieboldianum B+B sit out all winter and it seems to be ok, leafing out after the big freeze. And my A. mandschuricum that I was crying about has leafed to the point that it looks pretty normal.

Regards,
Ernie

Is it me, or do the plants with a western exposure seem to have suffered less than plants with an eastern exposure?

Sorry to see all the damage VV. The roots appear to be pretty sturdy on a few of them, do you expect to have to cut them down or do you just take a wait and see approach?

Sorry for such extensive losses in your gardens VV and Decumbent. As Soferdig said we are lucky here in the far west to have had our cold early on. And also all the rest of you sorry for your loss.

I almost lost my bonsai Jap. Pagoda, as I brought it out from winter quarters too soon and the Early freeze froze all the leaves, but now I see it is sending out new growth. It was almost 50 years old and I grew it from seed so really didn't want to lose it. Lost the bloom on my bonsai Wisteria . My Jane Magnolia was/is late blooming so now looks good..

The sun is trying to shine and so far the wind isn't blowing so I better get outside and do some planting.

Donna

This is my only partial loss. What should I do with this? Nothing I suspect and let it define it's new shape. I think that this partial death was due to underwatering in the fall.

I forgot the picture