plant hardiness
So rumor had it this winter would be colder then usual. Yesterday the Victoria blizzard hit and the snow kept falling. While the snow brings back memories of getting a day off school and riding sleds all the day, it also reminds me of the plants that didn’t make the cut for finding a spot in the warm house. A peak into the greenhouse today showed a frozen wonderland, a whole season of echeverias and aeoniums frozen solid (more pictures soon, i promise). Among the victims was also one very sad looking standardized lantana I decided to chance in the cold-frame instead of bringing it inside with it’s 5 friends. How Cruel!
-8 weather in November in Victoria B.C… It’s unreal, and I hope things warm up a bit asap.
When winter started approaching I did the rounds and brought in as much of my collection as I could, still what’s a guy to do with such a large collection and minimal space to put it in. Thus begins the expensive and heartbreaking trial and error to see will would survive in the cold winter. Although everything is frozen solid in my mini greenhouse, they aren’t exactly soaking wet. I made an effort to not water for the last couple months so hopefully that will be the saving grace. Cold and wet is a killer I hear.
Shot taken NOV 18TH 2010
Before I became a gardener I never noticed plants and the various states they go through. This year as I walked around the back of my house I noticed the battle these plants seemed to be fighting. The leaves look damaged and frozen, the majority of the plant life looks totally fried and barley hanging on. My poor melianthus major which started to really thrive this fall is looking cold and unimpressed. It’s amazing that only a few short months ago everything was large, happy, and as care free as a plant could be. Below is a comparison between this August and November. Wow!
I wake up at 6:50 in the morning and it’s dark and wet outside. When I get home from the greenhouse around five the sun is about to set. What’s wrong with this picture? It happened so gradually but it seems all of a sudden.
The evenings have been cold, and ever since mid September I’ve spent many of my night’s cookie cutting my tropical collection from the garden and into my house. Banana trees need to be brought in, the greenhouse insulated, and maple leaves to be raked. It seems that I got a little carried away with the tender perennials this year and now have to find them warm homes for the winter.
None of my roommates have complained yet, but the living room is starting to look a lot more tropical. Furthermore my girlfriend (who lives next door) has recently agreed to let me convert her bedroom to a plant sanctuary. The cold frame is full, the window sills packed, and here I’m mounting a florescent light on timers to my girlfriend’s ceiling. Oh what a couple years of plant addiction will do to one’s reality, it’s kind of funny really.
Thing’s are slowing down at work , my days have been spent polishing polyethylene greenhouses for next year. The whole staff are planting daffodils and other spring bulbs for February. I spent the day laying them down, watering and watching my life waste away.
This time of year can be a welcome break from the seemingly endless demands of a garden to it’s gardener. I’m sad to be cutting everything back and tucking it in for the winter, but also relieved that I can have a couple months off. I have been scouring the Internet looking for a ticket to Mexico. It’s time to go where my tropicals originated, to a place where frost never visits, it’s time to tuck myself in for the winter.
