A Windy Knoll Update

Penny-Mac Hydrangea summer of 2013

Where do I begin?  I’m writing this on Tuesday afternoon.  The cool rainy weather has now turned to fair weather and the cold wind is rolling in.  As I’ve told you before, the wind always seems colder here atop the Windy Knoll.  — even in the hottest of weather there is nearly always a gentle breeze.  This one is not gentle.

There are so many plants budded out (I could not begin to name all the wildflowers in the shade garden to say nothing of those here in the yard) and there is no way we could cover them all to protect them from the thirty degree predicted weather.  We have two special clematis that John has tried to cover.  One is a Henryi that has never bloomed, but shows promise for this year.  The other is Clematis Rugelli — blooms purple and the bloom is bell shaped.  And then there’s that little new Bergenia — a gift from a gardening friend — that I’ve put in the ground too early.  John has turned a heavy pot down over it and whispered a prayer.

I’ve always heard that the worst of the weather is over when the fig bushes bud out and they show no signs of green at this writing.

I shutter at the thought of loosing what few Hydrangea blooms we were going to have.  Notice I said, “going to have.”  Most of the Hydrangeas I have bloom on old wood and very few of the plants are showing green up the stem.  I would predict that 95% of the old growth stems are dead.  I have a Penny Mac on the north side of the house and it has been gorgeous — really large.  If you remember I posted a blog about the pruning of same late last summer.  I do believe that whole plant is dead, as is the rosemary in the edge of the vegetable garden.  I have another rosemary (said to the deer repellent kind) that’s growing next to the house and I’m hoping it has survived.  I don’t remember when we’ve had such a harsh winter and now I can say spring, as well.

A friend dropped by earlier today and asked if it would kill her Hosta.  “I’m afraid it will,” was my reply.  Will it put out again?  I think so, but don’t bet the farm on that.

Maybe sometime in the future I’ll give you a report on what we lost.  I have lots of Trillium in a bed here under the water oak, but I think most of the Trillium can take a light freeze.   The freezing weather is just one of the many worries connected to country living.