New growth appears at the base of a Knock Out rose. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Finally, our plants are revealing the ravages of our most brutal winter.
In my yard, the Knock Out red rose (Rosa ‘Radrazz’) has died, which frankly, is all right with me. I was getting bored with it and tired of seeing it planted in every gas station, restaurant and strip mall in the country. Hardy to USDA Zone 5 (minus 20 degrees), our series of record cold blasts likely did this plant in, so it’s coming out.
If there are leaves or green branches emerging from the bottom of your Knock Out, cut the shrub back to the new growth. This fast-growing rose will likely bloom again this summer.
I thought for sure that I’d lost the five variegated Solomon’s seals (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) that I had planted last summer. These were the Perennial Plant of the Year in 2013. I’d even told people I’d lost them, but there they are, the nice clump I planted, just a bit slower to emerge than expected. Another one of those “gardening teaches us patience moments.”
Little Henry Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica ‘Sprich’) also has not leafed out. It looks like there’s one branch that’s green, but this shrub has not thrived in my landscape, so I’m pulling it out. This cultivar of a native plant is hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Gardeners are reporting the browning of arborvitae shrubs (Thuja), broadleaf hollies (Ilex), the yellowing of Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) and few to no leaves on azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron). Brown leaves on evergreens will not green up. If the damage is patchy, you can prune out the brown branches. If the browning is extensive, replace the plant.
The one miracle in my landscape is the ever-so-slow, but promising emergence of the delicate maidenhair fern (Adiantum pendatum). This lovely, and a bit hard to find, native fern is hardy to USDA Zone 3 (minus 40 degrees). This one is special because a customer at the garden center where I work dug up part of her clump to share.
Still to be revealed: Winter’s affect on insect populations.