Thinking of you and your poor roses, canadian_rose

9 years ago

Carol, I have been thinking of you out there in snow-bound Calgary - I hope you fared well through that terrible snowstorm and that the damage to your garden is minimal... I hear it should go up to 21 degrees next week!

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Comments (11)

jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
I hope you fared well to Carol!
canadian_rose
9 years ago
Oh thank you for thinking of me!! I'm quite touched. :)

Three of my four trees in the back yard have been broken to bits. And one was a huge Black Olive tree. They were just cracked in half.

I still haven't gone outside to look, cause I don't want to go out in the snow.

I managed to cover my 4 rose hips (that's all I could hybridize this year because of the long cold rainy season until the middle of June - so they're only 2 months old and may not be ripe enough by the time winter comes) with a couple of layers of wax paper covered by a layer of tin foil. Hopefully that will have been enough.

And I asked my daughter (when I was out when the storm hit) to cover my tomatoes. They're probably all dead. But I don't know.

I'll let you know on Saturday (snow should be gone by then) how my roses did. There were so many buds waiting to explode. The hail in August nailed all of my roses, buds, and broke off many, many canes.

It has been a bad, bad, summer for the roses. But I'm not alone in that, I see by reading other emails here.

Thanks for your kinds thoughts!!
Carol
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canadian_rose
9 years ago
Oops - I meant to say that we didn't get roses until the middle of July, so the rose hips won't ripen, I'm sure.
Carol
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
Please keep us updated Carol... Thanks
Makes me really realize our season will end soon..
redwolfdoc_z5
Original Author
9 years ago
That really was a crazy storm. So sad about the trees. When we had the ice storm in Toronto last Christmas a large overhanging limb from our neighbour's tree came down, taking out a dogwood, some other shrubs and our telephone/internet line. The up-side is that it transformed a part-sun bed into a full-sun one!

I hope your roses (and the rest of the garden) pull through - particularly those baby hips. Maybe you'll even get one or two of those blooms...

What a year for weather, eh? :/

Karen
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
9 years ago
I didn't know about this weather fluke and am so sorry about your damage. It seems so ironic when we're faced with record-breaking heat for at least the next seven days and plants and animals are really suffering in this drought. I'm afraid it's all part of the predicted weather pattern of global warming and it's worrisome that such drastic effects are already being felt now. Whether too hot or too cold, it makes maintaining a garden of any quality a real challenge. Best wishes to you.

Ingrid
susan4952
9 years ago
Hang in there , Canadian rose. You have inspired my zone 5 efforts for many years. We cold zoners shall survive!
sara_ann-z6bok
9 years ago
Carol - You've had some real challenges this summer with the weather, you're a real trooper and you always inspire me. I hope things are better for you next year.
canadian_rose
9 years ago
Thanks, Jim!
Well the update is that the rose hips are still viable, but I just don't see how they'll have time to ripen. This summer, my roses only had one flush. Pretty pathetic. But I'm hanging in there!!!!
One tree keeled over in a break and is only 3 feet tall now. I guess, we'll have to dig it out next year.
Another tree was split nearly down the middle vertically. So we cut the tree below that spot. There are some side shoots, but I'm not sure if this tree will survive. I'm not very knowledgeable about trees. :)
Another tree (black olive) will have some substantial side branches cut away - but the main trunk looks okay.
But the roses look okay. I'll just miss the last flush of the year, since most of the roses have top growth gone.
But there's always next year!!!

Karen - Yes, I know, eastern Canada gets such terrible snow storms that just take out trees every year it seems. I'm always feeling sorry for the easterners. This is our first in the 8 years we've been here. So good luck with your weather too! :)

Ingrid - yes I know. Gardening is getting more and more challenging. We don't get the heat problems - but the challenge is there for everyone lately. :(

Thanks Susan!!! Yes, we shall persevere and overcome! It's the farmers that I worry for. They have such a difficult time. I have to put my gardening problems in perspective. Yes, it can get disheartening, but dang it!! we WILL continue!!! Okay, maybe I'm getting a little dramatic here. LOL

Thanks Sara-Ann!! Everyone here is inspiring! I'm even thinking that my worms are inspiring. My composting worms survived in their bin for 4 nights of -7C (19.4 F) weather. I thought for sure they'd be dead. Yay worms!!!

Thanks everyone!!
Carol
jim1961 / Central Pennsylvania / Zone 6
9 years ago
Yay for the worms Carol... lol
Sorry to hear about all the damage though...
Stay safe Carol!
canadian_rose
9 years ago
You too, Jim!