Two Weeks Later....

After the freeze 2 weeks ago, plants still don't look great. But recovery is on the way. I'm posting some, hopefully, uplifting pictures today. But remember, you may see dieback still occurring on woody plants for a couple more months.

Green tissue under bark of butterflybush:



False blue indigo new growth



Carolina sweetshrub new leaves emerging where old ones were fried



Baldcypress putting out some new leaves

Frozen landscape plants

Tree and shrubs whose leaves and flowers have been burnt by the freeze will recover. According to Dr Bill Fountain, our UK Extension Specialist, woody plants will leaf out again. It may take a couple of months to really understand the extent of the damage to our plants but they will most likely not die.

Do NOT fertilize trees and shrubs now. Keep woody plants as un-stressed out as possible during this growing season. This means watering when we have a dry spell. After a couple months, freeze damaged trees and shrubs can be aesthetically pruned -- meaning, get rid of the ugly, dead stuff. I want to emphasize that we should still practice good pruning practices.

The bark of the crape myrtle (and our beautyberry) here at the office cracked and sloughed off with the cold temperatures. Crape myrtles are marginal here in Zone 6, so there may be a lot of dead limbs on your plant this year. Again, you'll have to wait to see what resprouts and at that point, make pruning cuts.

For Dr Fountain's entire opinion on this, click here.

Herbaceous perennials were hard hit as well. Check out our hostas here at the office.

For these plants, you will have to wait a good week to know exactly what is dead and what's alive. At that point, you might want to remove the dead leaves. Anything that remains green, I would keep since it will be photosynthesizing and making energy for the plant.

Good luck. Let me know how your plants recover from this historic freeze.

Fresh, local fruit will be hard to come by in 2007

We had spring for 5 weeks before the freeze hit. Then the freeze hit, recording temps of 18 degrees in some places. This deep, prolonged cold period really did a number on our tree fruit crops. The peach and apple crops will be very small in Kentucky for 2007. Some growers will resort to buying fruit to re-sell, but this freeze affected much of the eastern half of the US. So who knows who will have apples and peaches.

Local strawberries got hit fairly hard as well. Early bloomers, like the tasty Earliglow, lost their king blooms. King blooms are the most important bloom since they produce the biggest berries. Strawberries will continue to bloom, but yields will be much reduced and berries will be smaller.

Early blueberries probably are gone as well. We're unsure of exactly what will happen with the later crop, but no doubt, damage has occurred.

Please patronize our local growers this year. They will very much appreciate your support during a most difficult year.

What's Blooming Today

Mostly pictures today. Several things worthy of showing.

Weeping Redbud & Daphne 'Somerset'





Calycanthus in bloom








Lilac












Pawpaw blooms