It was on a walk with the dogs today that I became aware of the beginning of the beginning of the end of summer which is rather odd as the beginning of the end of the end of spring just happened to be about two weeks ago, perhaps even ten days ago if you are a dedicated cynic which I usually am but not today. Today there were deliberately jettisoned leaves of scouler’s willow and bigleaf maple along the trail, not just those that had grown bored of waiting for summer or those struck down in youth by a gust of wind or mandibles of squirrel and slug. These fallen leaves were legitimate and fully sanctioned to lay down where they lie.
So, considering the above mentioned leaves, and the fact that it is now fully dark when we rise in the morning and equally so when we retire to our bed, it is time to write and make my list of garden losses thus far in 2011 for if I wait further, the dead, nearly dead and should be dead may no longer be attributable to the winter of 2010/11. Considering, however, that only yesterday, on 8/28/11, a fourteen year old specimen of Euptela polyandra, collected by seed in S. Korea in 1997, transitioned in 24 hours from thriving but truly unremarkable to markedly dead, this list could still get remarkably longer.
When I started planting Windcliff ten years ago, I planted in threes, fives and sevens when possible for purposes of cross pollination, to observe phenotypic diversity and, mostly, because I had come to realize that the higher powers of the Universe appreciate things in threes, fives and sevens. And, of course, the plants were free. What I was not expecting then, that which is now accepted in scientific inquiry, is that even three plants grown from seed collected from the same parent can be expected to show widely varying degrees of hardiness. The numbers following each entry reflect the numbers of dead or damaged.
Before I get down to the nitty bits, I will sign off by wishing everyone a good autumn. I will be in Guizhou Province throughout October. During this time, I will post my observations when technically possible. My musings can be accessed on both this site as well as on the Monrovia Growers website (the 2012 Daniel Hinkley Collection of plants through Monrovia has developed into an assemblage of some of my best collections and selections made thus far in my career, available through independent garden centers across North America).
Freeze dates; Nov 4, 5, 6 2010
Low Temperature Recorded; 14F
Snow Cover; 6-8″
Plant Name, Size, Degree of Damage, Number
Acacia pravissima, 20′, dead 3/3
Agapanthus ‘Stormcloud’, damaged, not flowering, 25/25
Agapanthus x praecox, damaged, slight flowering, 30/30
Aucuba omeiana, 6′, dead 1/2
Camellia spp, ex Vietnam, killed to the ground, 2/2
Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’, 10′, dead 7/7
Citris ichangense, 3′, killed, 1/1
Corokia ‘Bronze King’, 6′, killed to the ground 3/3
Cortaderia fulvida, mature, severely damaged 15/15
Cortaderia seloana, mature, dead 9/9
Dacrycarpus franklinii, 5′, severely damaged, 2/2
Drimys winteri, leaf burn, recovered, 2/2
Edgeworthia chrysantha, 5′, severely damaged but recovering 5/5
Eucalyptus glaucescens, 30′, dead 3/3
Eucalyptus gunnii 35′, dead 2/2
Eucalyptus neglecta, 25′, killed to the ground 4/4
Eucryphia cordifolius, 20′ damaged but currently flowering 2/2
Eucryphia lucida, 8′, severely damaged 1/3
Eucryphia moorei, 10′ severely damaged 1/1
Fasicularia bicolor, 18″, severely damaged 3/3
Fasicularia pitcarinifolia, 24″, 2/2
Fuchsia magellanica , 8′, killed to the ground but recovering 15/15
Genista aetnensis, 18′, one half killed to the ground 1/1
Grevillea victoriae ‘Marshall Olbrich’, 6′, damaged beyond recognition 3/3
Hebe speciosa, 12′, dead 1/1
Holboellia angustifolia, 30′ defoliated, recovering, 3/3
Hydrangea aspera subsp. strigosa, 12′, dead 1/1
Hydrangea longifolia, 3′, dead 3/3
Hydrangea scandens, 2′, severely damaged, slowly recovering, 9/9
Leptospermum lanigerium, 15′, damaged 1/2
Lindera communis, 15′, killed to the ground, recovering 3/3
Luma apiculata, 15′, killed to the ground 3/3
Magnolia insignis, 20′, killed to the ground, all blossoms lost, 5/5
Mahonia bodinieri, 2′, dead 1/1
Olearia cheesmanii 5′, dead, 2/5
Olearia illicifolia, 2′, dead 1/2
Olearia mollis, 2.5′, dead 1/2
Phormium tenax, 6′, killed to the ground but recovering, 3/3
Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tasmanian Ruffles’, 15′, defoliated and damaged 1/1
Pittosproum eugenoides ‘Variegata’, dead, 3/3
Podocarpus lawrencii ‘Purple King’, damaged 3/3
Podocarpus saligna, 10′, killed 2/3 ( one untouched )
Pseudopanax crassifolius, 15′, dead 1/2
Rosmarinus officinalis, 4′, all cultivars and specimens dead, replaced with ‘Arp’
Schefflera gracilis, 4′, dead 2/2
Schefflera rhododendrifolia, 10′, killed to the ground 2/2
Solanum crispum ‘Glesnevin’, 12′, all killed to the ground 6/6
Sorbus sargentiana, 15′, dead 1/1
Ulmus procera ‘Parasol’, 4′, dead, 1/1
Viburnum arbicolon, 15′ defoliated, but recovering, 1/1
Viburnum erubescens, 6′, dead 3/3
Weinmannia racemosa, 15′ dead 2/2
