Late fall color...does snow count? pics

17 years ago

My late fall color is snow!

We had a freak snowstorm come through here last Thursday night. Our house only received 6 inches, but some areas got as much as 24 or more. Many trees lost their limbs and power lines were down. We were without power for a couple days. My parents still do not have power today and it is not expected to come back until Sunday for them. The temperatures around here hovered around the freezing mark this weekend.

My garden is destroyed. I had a nice selection of cannas that I'm afraid I've lost.

My butterfly bush is still in tact, but most of my other perennials have been flattened.

Most of the garden is under a layer of debris, like tree limbs.

What saddens me is that most of my plants had seeds that were almost ready to harvest. Now they're gone and I'm seedless. Luckily I had saved a few seeds last Tuesday, but not much. I don't think I will have much of anything to trade with you all during the swap.

I hope anyone else in this area fared better than I did.

Tracy

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Comments (14)

homenovice
17 years ago
Amazing, Tracy! I'm sorry about your lost plants, but just wanted to say how much I love the green on your home!

Anne
(p.s., and welcome back!)
todancewithwolves
17 years ago
Strange weather. Jumped from summer into winter.

I'm sure your cannas will be fine. They are an invasive plant in my yard. They travel by root. I'm always pulling mine out and find shoots sprouting elsewhere.

Edna
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pat_tea
17 years ago
Oh my gosh, that is terrible. Earthquakes in Hawaii and early snow in NY. I love the green too!!!!
pansyface2006
17 years ago
Sorry that you lost your seeds but dont worry, if you need any of the seeds that I sent, please feel free to take them. Hopefully next year will be better.
We get snow here once in about 10 yrs and I like your "fall"color
Barb
solana
17 years ago
Do you dig your cannas to overwinter the tubers indoors as I do? I wait for hard frosts to kill the top growth before digging, so as long as the ground isn't frozen, yours should be fine.

You remind me that it's time to 'plant' the reflectors so plow-boy doesn't scrape the top off the raised bed near my driveway as he did last year. Lost some prized heucheras :(

Hope some of those lost seeds will self-sow & you'll have lots of baby plants next spring.

Ana
mmegaera
17 years ago
Oh, my. I heard about the storm, but this really brings home the mess it made.

Take an extra packet from mine for starters...
ntaylor_2006
17 years ago
Tracy - just pull your canna rizomes - they will be fine. I have always waited till the first frost kill my cannas and dahlias- it's good, as they put everything to the roots.

There is a french canadian song that I love....:mon pays, c'est n'pas en pays, c'est l'hiver. mon jardin, c'est n'est pas un jardin, c'est le neige.....

My country is not a country, it is winter.
My garden is not a garden, it is the snow.

Pardon me, I have probably screwed the french up big-time. Then again, it became a separatist athem, which it too bad, as well. such a pretty song.

Cheers, Nancy.
faltered
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you all for cheering me up! This was my first year with cannas so I guess I'm a bit overprotective of them. I'm glad you all think they'll be fine. Unfortunately now our snow has turned to rain. But once it stops later in the week I'll try and get out there to dig them up. And hopefully salvage anything else I can.

Tracy
fammsimm
17 years ago
Tracy,

Since it was a short lived snow, maybe the damage will be minimal to your garden. You might be surprised at what survives.

I'll keep a good thought for you and all western NY gardeners.

Marilyn
husky004_
17 years ago
Hey Tracy-remember where you got those canna rhizomes from??? well i got lots more!!!!!!!! im deciding how many brugs i wanna save...I think this storm was God's way of telling me enough is enough lol.
gottagarden
17 years ago
Tracy, your cannas, dahlias, and any other bulbs will be fine because the ground isn't frozen yet. I probably won't dig mine out for another week or two. Right now it is SO wet, too wet to dig. When you do dig them out, try to lay them flat to dry for a couple of days, before putting them away. If you put a big wet pile of them away, they may get rot.

Congratulations on your wedding! Any photo sites of that? Hope it was wonderful and best wishes for a fantastic married life.
faltered
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you Kathy & Brenda. You can tell I'm a newbie to tubers because I'm paranoid that I'm going to kill them! I'm going to try and dig some up Saturday since it's supposed to be nice. Probably just the ones in containers first, because like Brenda said the ground is soooo wet.

Kathy, I'm definitely going to take your advice and start them ALL inside next spring. The cannas I started indoors were spectacular and those that I planted outside when the ground warmed were slow growers.

Tracy
romando
17 years ago
I'm so sorry to hear that! Not to rub it in (Really! I hate it...) but today we were between 85 and 90 degrees with 20 mph winds. Totally sucks. Really yukky. And our normal ~80 % humidity was down at around 15%... really bad recipe for fires! It feels like we're in the height of summer. I want fall. I want full-pot-of-coffee-get-the-scrapbooking-supplies-and-candles-out-weather. Not kids-fighting-mom-b!tching-sweating-like-an-oldie kind of weather.

Amanda 'romando'
friend
17 years ago
Hi Tracy! and everyone.

In NJ- i didnt get snow- but we got frost a few days and it blackened the cannas and dahlias about a week ago now. But they really will be fine! LIke everyone said- the ground isnt actually frozen yet. That's what would do them in!

I plan to take mine out this week or weekend.I too hae been worried about the seed heads i didnt harvest yet. i hope the frost didnt kill them? as long as they are dry they should be ok right? I really want to add to the seed swap and have had zer time to harvest this stuff.

Craziness

How was the WEDDING!?

Late fall color...does snow count? pics

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homenovice

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Late fall color...does snow count? *pics*

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