It was cold here last night, 19.9 F. according to my digital thermometer. That’s not really so cold for March 21, in Southern Colorado, but it is cold compared to our recent record highs, and cold for the poor fruit trees that started blooming in Pueblo and Canon City last week. Will those peach trees still look as happy when the sun hits the blooms this morning?
It was cold, too, for the Gaura lindheimeri that I uncovered yesterday. Those of you who read this blog regularly will remember I did a test last summer, planting the species Gaura lindheimeri and the selection Gaura ‘Siskiyou Pink,’ to check for hardiness. Yesterday I pulled away the winter debris to see if there was any sign of life and yes! They were alive, both the species and Siskiyou Pink! It was so exciting to me. But then I wandered off, not protecting the crowns with the leaves and broken stems that had kept them safe all winter, and left them for the 19 degrees to test again. I’ve noticed that I often lose plants this time of year, plants that are starting to break dormancy and then get hit with a blast of cold.
The title of this post might date me but Stephen Stills had something beyond free love to offer when he suggested that we quit pining after what we can’t have and enjoy what is here. It’s been a long weird winter in Colorado–aren’t they all?–and I’m so ready for spring. I checked a couple of blogs today, where spring comes a bit sooner: one written by a gardener in Portland, Oregon; another by an Albuquerque landscape architect. I have friends in both of those regions and sometimes I’m tempted to move to one city or the other. They have longer growing seasons. They (both) can grow palms! And not just palms, all sorts of other plants, plants that bloom in November and December and January, when I’m looking at a snow-covered landscape and below zero temperatures. I have to remember, though, that Southern Colorado also has its glorious weather days and would I really want to live where it rains for six months in winter, or where the dust storms signal spring? I can be content with our crazy weather and grow the plants that love to be here–as do I.
If you’d like to see those two inspiring blogs, here are the links:
Albuquerque http://desertedge.blogspot.com/2012/03/ephedra.html
Portland http://dangergarden.blogspot.com/2012/03/agaves-getting-protection-they-deserve.html
