In my garden, there has not been the beautiful sparkling frost that I've seen in some areas on my short commute but the temperatures have taken their toll nonetheless. On Saturday, I wandered outside to see how things were doing.
It would seem that Musa basjoo is a little burned on top but the lower leaves are still green.
I'll miss those lazy green sails that would catch every breeze and sway ever so gently. The Persicaria at it feet is bent on world domination and may just be removed next spring along with several others in various parts of my garden.
There's a smaller clump of M. basjoo in a more protected area which has escaped damage for now.
I didn't venture out to the parking strips where the tetrapanax are/were blooming. They're surrounded by concrete/asphalt and the warmth of cars parked next to them sometimes gives a little protection. However the tetrapanax "weeds" (they've been removed several times- I gave up) inside the garden gates have had their last green days for this season.
Zantedeschia aethiopica 'White Giant' looks pretty sad. A once huge clump of tropical looking foliage has been reduced to this.
The Ensete ventricosums are in the totally toast category. I decided not to bring store them in the basement this winter. For some reason this year they were very slow to recover. I may replace one of them next year.
Or maybe I'll take this one inside. Notice that the Pelargonium "Palace Gem" whose foliage I'm crazy about is still looking perky. come to think of it, so is the foliage of that cordyline shoved in the same pot. Hmmm.
From the Opera Vanessa, libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, music by Benjamin Britten comes the aria "Must the Winter Come so Soon." Vanessa sings of a harsher winter than what we in the PNW experience but I always think of this aria as winter approaches.
Must the winter come so soon?
Night after night I hear the hungry deer
wander weeping in the woods,
and from his house of brittle bark hoots the frozen owl.
Must the winter come so soon?
Here in this forest neither dawn nor sunset
marks the passing of the days.
It is a long winter here.
Must the winter come so soon?
You've got fine taste in music (and plants) Peter! The scenes you have is pretty much similar to what it is here but like you we also welcome the cleaning feeling winter brings (we just hope it's a mild winter though).
ReplyDeleteI wish you a mild winter, you deserve it after last year!
DeleteMy Terapanax looks a lot like yours. Although December isn't quite here yet, i think it's safe to say that winter is. How long have you had your Musa basjoo? I want to get some next year, and I'm wondering how long it takes them to get that big.
ReplyDeleteIt's been there for at least ten years but I started with a larger one. Although they put on a lot of growth in a year, I think it's worth the investment to start larger. You know, if a plant triples in size in a season, a six foot tall plant will be large enough to walk under while a 2 foot tall plant will only be six feet tall. If you dig the largest hole you can and fill it with compost and or steer manure and plant your banana in that, it'll be really happy!
DeleteThanks for the great advice!
DeleteI agree...part of me looks forward to this time of year, when the garden is reduced to it's barest essence. It also makes it easier to take stock of what did and didn't work during the growing season.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for a month of frost and clean up and then spring should arrive.
DeleteIt is amazing to see how the leaves of Tetrapanax planted in just slightly different locations handle the cold weather. Great indicator for identifying the microclimates.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I have three melianthus in different parts of the yard that respond very differently when the weather gets cold.
DeleteWell, you've seen my Wizard ! Nice tribute for the Britten centenary
ReplyDeleteI didn't see him but he obviously visited, probably late at night. One of my favorite choral groups, The Esoterics, is performing Britten's entire entire repertory for chorus a cappella in two concerts, Sacra and Profana. One was on November 22, the composer's birthday, the other in December on the date of his death. How fun is that?
DeleteI don't know them, i'll look them up ! I just thought …'Vanessa' is Barber not Britten :)
DeleteWhen it comes to cold, it's all relative. Here in SoCal, we consider it cold when night temps drop into the 50s. (Now, you can laugh.) Regardless of where you fall on the temperature spectrum, though, winter does take its toll on the garden.
ReplyDeleteThank you for allowing me to laugh. Having come from Alaksa, my family there always gives me a bad time for thinking that it ever gets cold here.
DeleteI'm starting to adjust to the cold, with the help of layers of cozy sweaters. Never thought of winter as having a cleaning effect, but you're right (and thanks for that). I would not like to live in a place with year-round summer, having done so and found it boring. Now it's time to prep for holiday visitors and long visits with no distractions. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteWinter does have its charms and it would be hard to keep gardening at the same pace as I do in summer when I work a whole lot less!
DeleteI may never get used to winter but I'm trying. My Ensete ventricosum was slow to respond this past summer as well, and like you, I decided not to try overwintering it this year. It's a cheap (or maybe expensive?) way to get a new annual next spring!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what winter must be like for you having come from such a warm climate. Ensente ventricosum used to be fairly pricey but now that the big box stores haul in tons of them, they're much less expensive.
DeleteI'm continuing to work outside but wear layers, but the poor chickens and ducks must get through the cold like the frozen owl hooting in the song. But we can get out the heat lamps when it gets really cold. Lowest temperature here AFAIK was 6*F. The beautiful song expresses rather how I feel about the aproach of winter... I guess that is why people have so many festivities then.
ReplyDeleteThe business of the festivities help distract us from the long nights and by the time we recover, January is over and tiny signs of spring begin to appear. ( I see all the winter flowering plants as signs of spring!) Unless it's one of those long cold winters and it doesn't warm up until July but let's not think about that.
DeleteYour garden is bowing to the cold for sure. You'll be needing some more clear days for the big clean up to come.
ReplyDeleteBeing a sloth, I let a lot of the dead plant matter stay where it is until spring when it's dry, brittle and crumbles to bits that get left on the surface of the soil as mulch. If there's so much that I can't stand looking at it, I cover it with steer manure or Tagro in March or April.
DeleteThose musa are impressive even with burned leaves from the cold! I haven´t seen my garden after the cold weather arrived here, I´ll have to go check.
ReplyDeleteI hope that your garden is still doing well despite the cold and the goats!
DeleteIt's sad to say goodbye to our beloved plants. Hopefully spring won't be shy about getting here.
ReplyDelete