A lot of gardeners in the Midwest lost lavender and other plants this past winter. Pictured is ‘Hidcote’, which has shown good winter hardiness in the Hoosier Gardener’s garden for several years. Photo courtesy PerennialResource.com
All over the Midwest, gardeners are moaning the loss of several plants.
The funky weather, especially those days in January when the temperatures reached 60 degrees, fooled a lot of plants. And if I had to describe an element of this past winter and spring, it would be wind.
Being patient people, gardeners tend to wait until the very last minute to decide if a plant is a goner. We’re a hopeful bunch, you know.
First on the DOA: ‘Phenomenal’ lavender (Lavandula intermedia), which I’ve had for a year. It was totally dead this spring when I went to cut it back. Instead, I pulled it from the garden. A French lavender hybrid, this plant was developed to tolerate summer heat and humidity and cold temperatures. I really do like this lavender, which has long wands, but I’ve planted it three times and it rarely lasts more than a couple of years. I’ve had much better luck with ‘Munstead’ and ‘Hidcote’ (L. angustifolia), English lavenders that generally last for several years.
Tips: Don’t cut lavender back until late winter or spring when you see new leaves form. Cut back to the new growth. Grow lavender in average, gritty soil where it gets eight hours of direct sun. Soil that’s too rich or that stays too wet can do lavender in.
Beautyberry (pictured), butterfly bush and roses also took hits this past winter. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
A Japanese beautyberry bush (Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Issai’) took a big hit this winter, with only half of the plant surviving. It was planted last summer as part of the redesign of my front yard, an act that likely contributed to its winter struggle.
Beautyberry is what’s called a cutback shrub, one where the top part of the plant is usually killed by winter temps, but the roots are hardy. New branches grow from the base of the plant to leaf out, bloom in June and in fall, develop the lovely purple berries that give the shrub its name. The berries persist through fall and early winter, providing last-season interest in the garden. The native beautyberry (C. americana), a much larger shrub with masses of purple berries, but it may not be reliably winter hardy here.
Another cutback shrub in my garden is blue mist spirea (Caryopteris spp.), but it came through winter fine. This shrub
Tips: Cut these shrubs back to about 6 to 8 inches tall in late winter or early spring, before they sprout new growth. Beautyberry tolerates shade, but blue mist spirea does best with at least six hours of direct sun.
Roses, including Knock Outs, also suffered and many gardeners are replacing them this spring.
This is a timely post. We suffered from winter damage to plants here on Long Island as well. I lost a Muskogee Crape Myrtle that was just taken down after it showed no signs of life and well after my other tree had sprouted all new growth. Dwarf Butterfly Bush and Spirea also took a hit from the extreme cold, but thankfully the spirea is coming back and filling in with new growth after pruning off some of the dead ends on branches. Some of the plants that did well here for many years are now getting hit hard with the changing weather patterns. It seems to be the new trend.