Horti-Culture ~ Winter Damage

After the Storm:

Cleaning Up What's Left of Your Garden After a Tough Winter

There's always a bright side, and I'll start with it. Although this weather has damaged many plants, many of those remaining will bloom like crazy this year. A period of dormancy is needed by many plants in order to bloom well. Plants that originate in cold winter climates tend to need a period of cold dormancy to stimulate the production of chemical compounds that stimulate spring and summer flowering. For more tropical climates, the dormancy is stimulated by cold and dry conditions, thus the lack of water for Christmas Cactus before their bloom time. Some plants just need a big nap before they are ready to have sex.

Now for the doom, gloom and self-loathing. Many of us happily planted New Zealand Flax (Phormium), Hebe 'Amy', Dracaena (Cordyline) and Eucalyptus knowing full well that if a tough winter came along we were going to pay.....and we finally did this winter. Like a hardened war veteran, as a professional gardener I've seen so many plants die (often at my own hands). So many that my inclination is drag them to the compost bin and take them out of their misery at the least sign of weakness.

Oh, who am I fooling? I anthropomorphize plants to the extent that I am always tempted to get the ugliest, scrawniest Christmas tree in the lot. When I don't, I feel sad for the ones that are left, as if they felt unloved. This is crazy because if they were capable of conscious thought, they'd be less concerned about adorning their murder's living room and more concerned about planning their demise with some sort of electrical fire or pine needle eye injury. Still, I am a champion of second chances. Perhaps this is the time of year to do some soul-searching and see what kind of plant parent you want to be. Is it tough love or smothering love?

I'm sort of a mix of both. All of my variegated Hebes are in the compost already as are the Lavenders. Some of my plants and I have history together though, and those remain. One Hebe in particular I am going to try to save. It was nearly dead when I pulled it out of a garden after someone didn't water it during its first year in the garden. A few leaves teetered over a mass of dead twigs when I first installed it, but two years later it was gorgeous. Now it's back to a few living leaves. Sigh. I also have a Dracaena that I pulled out of the dump that I want to save. Pick your battles. If you're not that crazy about a plant, this is your chance to move on without guilt.

For the Hebe, and with all of these winter damaged plants, wait until the weather warms up (possibly never this year). Those dead parts of the plant are actually protecting the live parts from the cold. If you remove them too early, the plant will die back even more. It's tempting though, isn't it? It's just so hideous. If and when the weather warms, cut back the dead branches to 4" or so. They will grow leaves on old wood. One of the things I look for when cutting back a plant is little ribs or knobs running along the stem. Generally these are dormant buds waiting to be stimulated by the top being ripped off. Like Oedipus without the marrying the mother part. Hebes have a million of these dormant buds running up and down the stem, so you can pretty much chop them anywhere. On the parts of the plant with leaves, trim the ends of the living twigs to stimulate lower growth.

Heathers and Lavenders do not regenerate from old wood. If you look at their bark, there are no little bumps and the woody stem is hard. A hard stem is usually a sign that new growth can't be stimulated from it. I have noticed that fleshy-stemmed plants seem to create new growth from their stems easier. Wait until you see the little new buds and cut to just above the lowest growth. Your Lavender will benefit from this treatment twice a year. They get much less leggy when you trim the tops regularly to stimulate lower buds to grow.

My advice for the Dracaena is from book learning, not experience. Rumor has it that you rip off all of those floppy brown leaves and cut back to firm stem and, the plant will regenerate leaves. You'll probably feel some slimy mushiness in the stem as you move down searching for a place to cut. Make sure to cut the stem back until you are solidly into firm flesh. Don't be timid. You want to get rid of that rot. Cut it at an angle so water doesn't rest on top. I hope it works because I really love my little dumpster Dracaena.

For Flax, cut back all of the dead leaves to the ground. If it's still alive, it will grow back new leaves. If you cut back the leaves partially, don't expect them to grow new growth from the top of the leaf. It doesn't work that way. Keep this in mind too when in midsummer there are bent and brown leaves. Just cut them to the base.

You might also want to consider pulling the plants out and replacing them with a more hardy plant, unless you're the kind of person who enjoys watching things suffer. If so, this just might be your legal outlet. Perhaps you are doing some sort of ugly garden conceptual art piece...a sort of comment on the human obsession with beauty. Plants like the variegated hebe (variegata, tricolor, coed, Pinocchio), purple-leaved Hebes (Amy, anamola Marie Antoinette and Caledonia) and Dracaenas would be great candidates for that. They're considered annuals in my book for now on. By the time they recover, it's going to be winter again and guess what?

If you just absolutely need these plants in your garden, consider improving your drainage. Notice how all of the plants suffering are the drought tolerant ones? These plants have evolved with low amounts of water, so they are not used to soaking in puddles. Start adding significant amounts of sand to your soil. In the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle they use a light colored drainage gravel to top-dress their New Zealand plants area. This helps drainage and also reflects heat back up to the plant.

On the flip side, there are some plants that did really well in this weather. The Hebe 'Red Edge' has always been one of my least favorite hebes. Compared to the others, it just seems so dumpy. Seeing how famously it did, it's now on my best loved plant list. It's certainly better than no Hebe at all. Hebe 'James Sterling' did great, Hebe 'Quicksilver' is a little haggard, but not bad. I think they will recover nicely. Hebe mckeanii did great. It's a little spring-green bun.

There are also plants that are more hardy that have the same sort of visual effect as the ones that bit the dust this winter. I was amazed at how well both the standard and yellow Yuccas stood up to the snow. Even Color Guard did okay, a little browning, but nothing that can't be cut off. I was also surprised how some well-placed Agaves tolerated the cold. They will tolerate temperature in the low teens. There are a couple on a wall of the Washington Park Arboretum's visitor parking lot that look great. If you need tall, weird and spiky, try a Charity Oregon Grape. They get 10ft tall and are definitely different. The only problem is that they do want more shade than the Dracaena, but with their tough, waxy leaves, they can tolerate a good amount of sun.

If your Eucalyptus bit the dust, try planting Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora, coriacea, niphophilia) according to Seattle's tree expert, Arthur Lee Jacobson. I highly recommend his site, "www.arthurleej.com" if you want some ideas on what to plant or just want to geek out on plants for a awhile.

Some final words of advice, if you really like it, don't pull it out until it's been warm awhile, like in May. Chinese Fringe Flowers (Loropetalum) are regularly mistaken for dead and pulled out prematurely. It's actually a semi-evergreen in Seattle and deciduous in colder areas. Many plants are only evergreen to a certain temperature. You may not have seen a plant in your garden loose it's leaves before because it hasn't gotten that cold until now. The Chinese Fringe Flowers always have some dead leaves in winter, but this year they look like hell. Most will re-leaf as it warms. Dwarf Pomegranates (Punica granatum 'Nana') are also often left for dead. Like many late season bloomers, it leafs out late and people throw them out thinking they are dead. Just like people, some plants party late and sleep in.

Photo caption: Two randy Forsythias ready for action while the Lilac between them barely starts to awake.

Diedre Muns owns and operates Florabunga, a wonderful landscaping business in Seattle.