Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Ice storm


In this latest go-round of winter weather we got ice, and thankfully all we lost was internet access for 12 hours.

Some of these pictures look rather post-apocalyptic, especially since they are dark, but the damage was more annoying than serious. G. had to spend a couple of hours chainsawing pine boughs off of the fences and got whacked in the leg by an errant branch for his pains.







Everything with leaves was bowed way down. Young pines had the most damage, losing major branches and/or tops, but most everything else has bounced back. Not this wax myrtle though. It's the second time it's imploded, I think because it's a volunteer that's been cut down to the ground before so its multiple trunks all branch out straight from the base.


The pine boughs were weighed down with ice but most sprang back up after the ice melted.






Another weighed down wax myrtle.


I was reminded of winter in Narnia.







The broken down max myrtle from the other direction. It'll make a comeback. Wax myrtles are basically unstoppable.


What a difference between the leafless Rose-of-Sharon and the leafy witch hazel. The witch hazel won't lose its leaves until it's done blooming, a trait typical of witch hazels. It bounced right back.


The Knockout rose to the right of the witch hazel did not - the weight of the ice pulled the plant right over and the roots weren't able to hold it up. I need to get in there to at least take out the dead wood, and probably thin out some of the live branches too. It has vicious thorns, the kind that goes through even thick leather gloves, so I'm not really looking forward to that.


Baptisia with ice


This gardenia didn't bounce back either - and that's because voles had nearly chewed through the base of nearly half the branches. I was able to pull them out with one hand. I mulched the base with gravel and left it at that, since my attempts to trap voles weren't very successful. This is a single-flowered gardenia that I grew from seed. The big gardenia from G.'s grandmother's garden, with huge double flowers and good rebloom, is fine.


Sad gardenia, now thinned by half.


When the sun came out on Saturday the ice glittered like a thousand jewels.




8 comments:

  1. Lots of great pics, hope it is al melted by now before anymore damage!

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  2. Beautiful photos but oh, what a challenge it must be dealing with that ice! I hope this is your one and only ice storm of the season. Your last photo is gorgeous!

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  3. I like your frozen photos, Sweetbay, but I am glad that the frost is not visiting our garden :) So sorry for your gardenia ...

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  4. Such a beautiful place. I love your garden area. Always evolving our gardens, they are. As for Narnia. yes:)

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  5. It must hurt your heart when you think about the damage the icestorm did to your garden. But your photo's are beautiful.
    Have a wonderful day Sweetbay.

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  6. The ice does cast a darkness to everything but it sounds like most of the plants bounced back pretty quickly. I had a row of viburnums that were bent to the ground by our snow but I was able to whack it off with a broom and get them upright again. I hope your gardenia pulls through.

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  7. As lovely as it is, I will take several feet of snow over a thin coating of plant damaging ice any winter day.

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  8. The icy landscape is quite beautiful, though I know how damaging and dangerous ice can be. I am glad you did not have any serious damage. The weather is really warming up this week, no doubt to be followed by another round of frost. i am ready for spring!

    By the way, thank you for you comment on my recent post. You asked about Edgeworthia's scent. The fragrance is a bit hard to describe; perhaps a fresh, sweet smell like honey. You may have to stick your nose close to the blooms to fully appreciate it.

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