Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: Thrift on March 05, 2010, 10:33
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I'm interested to know what plants ( if any ) you all lost in the big freeze this winter. I have a cistus and a leptospermum which look sadly deceased. Both have been in situ for about 8yrs.
A friend reports a ceanothus looking sorry for itself. Shame, because suddenly there's a big hole in the garden which will take time to fill. :( :(
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Broad beans look awful. Time will tell if the Dahlias I left in will have survived (I know, I know, I forgot to lift them... :( )
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dissapointed to find the jasmine that has survived well for past few years gave up this winter so now the job of untangling it from the arch. Sowing some passion flower and extra sweet peas for this year to replace it.
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Broad beans are looking terrible :dry: not sure about the garlic and onions yet....
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I should have said, I did two lots of garlic; the earlier planting is pretty bedraggled , the second looks fine.
Onions are happy as anything.
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You mean the Big Freeze is actually over? Hurrah (hope your're right!)
Bit early to tell for some herbaceous plants and bulbs I wouldn't be expecting to see yet anyway, although I've got a small Cordyline which isn't looking too chipper (mind you it wasn't looking that happy last year either!!) :blush:
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We are still freezing ! Kale and purple sprouting brocolli look very sad - last year I had started harvesting the brocolli by now. Hope it's a good growing summer.....
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I lost the begonia I had in the front (fully enclosed & double glazed) porch plus
the electronics in the door bell and that control the immobiliser in the car! >:(
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Looks like my rosemary plant has had it, still oping it might spring back into life but I'm not confident! My japanese onions are alive, just I think! My spring onions look ok though they havn't really grown in the last 3 months, hoping they start filling out a bit soon!
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I lost some (supposedly) hardy perennial diascias a cistus, the hardy fuschias are cut back to the ground but I think most of them will grow back again.
The penstemons that I was sure would die have already started to shoot, so that was a pleasant surprise :)
I won't know for a while if the Zante arum lillies will grow again....if they do I'm gonna pot them up so that I can protect them in future...so fingers crossed.
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Half my Autumn sown broad beans - first year I've tried them, possibly some of the garlic. Lavender, newly planted looking a bit sad, not sure about dahlias, so have sown some more. A rosemary in a pot is looking surprisingly healthy. Winter dnsity lettuce a bit bedraggled, but has survived being in the open.
PSB is taking an age, last year I picked it on Mother's day, think it will be Easter this year. Wish it would hurry up as it's where my root veggies are supposed to be going!
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My 10 year old, multi-stemmed banana plant. I`m praying that the rootball isn`t totally dead. :( :D
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My autumn beans (aquadulce) took a right bashing lost the majority. A few gaps have appeared in my onion rows but wether that's due to the wildlife or the weather I wouldn't like to say. In the garden my cordyline looks to have gone and the jasmin has done nothing so far I shall just have to wait and see. One thing I hope to have lost in the big freeze is any over wintering lily beetles from the senior house managers lily bed.
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Have lost all my geraniums and begonias in the greenhouse. Because of my 'milder' cllimate here tend to leave more of my fucshias out than perhaps you mainlanders would but time will tell with them.
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hi
my spring cabbages took a battering lost about 5.
lost about half of my autum sowen peas, will fill in the gaps when weather dose change.
lost about a third of my shallots.
only lost one onion, and all the autum planted garlic are fine. :)
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Wighty your Fuchsias should be fine. I`ve not seen one dead outdoor Fuchsia up here. :D
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Broad beans, sweet peas, some of the species paeonies I planted last autumn. All eaten by mice.
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My garden is very new and I have lost about four different types of hebe that I planted last year :(
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Sorry about the losses, but doesn't that tell us how imcomplacent we've got having had a few mild winters?
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Sorry about the losses, but doesn't that tell us how imcomplacent we've got having had a few mild winters?
Absolutely, let's have a rethink and stop believing that we'll be able to grow plants that thrive in the Med :(
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Just watch Gardener's World; if they start planning and planting a desert garden this spring you will know we are in for a wet summer and another very cold winter!
(Oops, sorry. I'm supposed to be someone who thinks GW has reformed this year!) :nowink:
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My garden is very new and I have lost about four different types of hebe that I planted last year :(
I just came back into this thread to add that I noticed yesterday my lovely purple Hebe has a lot of brown leaf ends and I hope its going to be OK. :unsure:
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It will probably be OK Argyllie, they are pretty tough (probably just a touch of the Hebe-Jeebies!) :lol:
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:nowink:..it's the way you tell'em :lol:
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It will probably be OK Argyllie, they are pretty tough ......
Oh that's good then. I love the plant and it loves the surroundings, not always an easy thing for me to find. :)
...... (probably just a touch of the Hebe-Jeebies!) :lol:
::) :tongue2:
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Lost a cordyline but that is my fault because I should have put it in the shed at the very least. I suspect I have lost my Rosemary and a Lavender that have been in the ground for a couple of years. My mum has lost a huge montana clematis because the pergola that it was climbing over collapsed under the weight of snow two weeks ago.
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We have/had an acacia dealbarta (Mimosa). They are not supposed to be hardy, especially 500ft. above sea level and usually only last a few years. We have had this one for ages it has grown huge and I have been trying to persuade my OH to cut it down and let it re-grow from the roots. It survived last winter, but I think the recent one has done for it. Hoorah!
Gillie
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I lost my jasmine too DiggerJoe. I'm so disappointed, this winter has been brutal! Love your replacement ideas though, need to fine something pretty to replace mine. Any ideas anyone? A x
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What's your location AnnaM ? A lot may depend on the situation and exposure of your garden.
I planted a tiny jasmine in a corner last year and I think it's ok despite my other losses and the fact that we're about 600'-700' above sea level. To be really safe I think take a look at nature around you.
So many of our plants originate far from these islands. Good luck. :)
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Thanks for your response Thrift :) I'm in south-west London, Middlesex way if that helps? Think I'll have to do some more research as my garden took a fair battering this Winter!
Anna x
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My PSB is a real mess but I can't decide if the local wood pigeons may have contributed to that, time will tell. Kale is small but strong looking. Leeks didn't really grow much. The biggest surprise is that a lot of mediterranean stuff looks great...lavendar, cistus, rosemary, bottlebrush is ok. The olive looks better than it ever has! And I'm already picking parsley and chives. Our Viburnum has been wonderful this year, best it's been in six years, flowered since October and is smothered in strongly fragrant flowers still!
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You've done really well Tosca. You must be way ahead of us ..... not even a blade of grass growing yet !
No longer the Emerald Isle; it looks more like Africa ( without the heat ) :)
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My beautiful red cordyline bit the dust this winter...usually it can take any frost, so it didnt occur to me to take it in or protect it. :( :(
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I cut my poor banana down today, I`m hopeful there is still some life in the rootball though. Peapod lots of mature Cordylines have failed in this area, some of them 7 or 8 feet tall.
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I'm not sure about the results of the Big Freeze yet although there are a few plants not looking so spring like yet - I'll need to wait and see...
But I am not best pleased that my OH has buried a few under cat-litter during the colder weather :tongue2:
I tend not to fiddle with the borders (last attempt to plant in them ended up being shifted ::) ) so it's the OH who will be wearing gloves come tidy-up-the-borders time :tongue2: :tongue2: :blink:
I'm sticking to my allotment and the "no cat-litter" method! ;)
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Even though I lost my jasmine, I do have some basil and bay leaves left but they are looking a bit worse for wear despite the improved weather. Any ideas on rescuing them before its too late?
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Looking at the foliage of my young Cordyline (only 2 foot high so no "trunk" to speak of) the last flicker of life seems to have been extinguished. :(
Personally I think it's "had it" but I've heard that these plants sometimes can regrow from the base if the roots are still viable.
Anyone out there have any experience of this one way or the other?
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My Passion flower (Passiflora caerulea) which I have grown from a seed years ago and which was covering the fence surrounding our backyard looks not very good :(. I had to cut it down nearly to the ground because the stems looked brown and dead. Only just above the ground they still look green. I hope it will recover as I am really attached to this plant (planting the seed, seeing it germinating and growing bigger and bigger unites ;))
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It should recover if the roots are OK. My mum used to cut her's right down every year and was always worried it was the wrong thing, but it always came back.
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Oh thank you, this gives me hope :)
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Looking at the foliage of my young Cordyline (only 2 foot high so no "trunk" to speak of) the last flicker of life seems to have been extinguished. :(
Personally I think it's "had it" but I've heard that these plants sometimes can regrow from the base if the roots are still viable.
Anyone out there have any experience of this one way or the other?
Give it some time... we've tried killing off all sorts of similar shrubs / trees ::) only to have them reappear from under-ground... A few years back a huge palm was blackened by the frost, centre dead so we cut it down... later had about four to tackle as they sprang up all over the place from the root.
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Not actually lost the spring cabbage but it looks very tough, my bay looks like it got too cold and may have died, as does the rosemary. I was surprised that the parsley next to the shrubby herbs has survived.
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Isn't that the strange way of things? My bay needs feeding up but has come through okay, but the parsley is a sodden pulp, above and below ground. (The pigeons got the cabbage. :()
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It should recover if the roots are OK. My mum used to cut her's right down every year and was always worried it was the wrong thing, but it always came back.
I was going to bin mine, but I remembered hearing this, so have cut it back to about 6 inches of trunk and keeping fingers crossed
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My PSB is not looking to happy... awaiting the purple sprouting bits still :(
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Had a good tidy up of back garden today. Not sure whether banana has survived - will wait & see. It's always a bit of a late starter, so will give it till June.
Thought I'd lost my arum lilly, but clearing back the slimy mess of rotting leaves have found some new shoots coming through so very pleased this looks to have survived.
But stuff that is starting to shoot & grow is looking extra-vigorous this spring.
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Like many here it was the Cordylines that got murdered this winter.
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I lost most of my Dahlias after digging them up wrapping them in newspapper ,tucked them in a cardboad box covered that with me donkey jacket put inthe shed.They were better looked after than the good lady so she says.
By the way I have found today some old seed from my departed mother,mostly flowers all abot 4+ years old shold I bin them or try some.
thanks Muckyboots :unsure: :D
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What have you got to lose? Sow them and see. Might be a nice tribute. :)
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try them but only in a small seed tray, that way you don't waste too much compost if they don't germinate.
I had an old packet of dahlias and crammed them in the tray, thinking that only a few would come up, and pretty much all of them did :D
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I will give some a try ,thanks for that.
muckyboots :D
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Much of the seed that I sow is past its "sow by" date.... even using some 2008 this year ::)
It does mean germination rates are lower but it's worth a try if you have the time to experiment - I usually get a result from old seed just perhaps not such a high rate of success. ;)
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dissapointed to find the jasmine that has survived well for past few years gave up this winter so now the job of untangling it from the arch. Sowing some passion flower and extra sweet peas for this year to replace it.
Hi Digger, I lost a passion flower. Notice that you say you are sowing some now. Are they easy to grow from seed and will I get flowers on them this year. Sorry if its not exactly a Big Freeze reply.
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My globe artichokes and asparagus have not shown this yr, so i presume they have been frozen to death. :(
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My globe artichokes and asparagus have not shown this yr, so i presume they have been frozen to death. :(
It might just be the colder & longer winter has delayed them.... still a bit of time before you should declare them gonners, perhaps? :(
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I hope you are right Learner, the globe artichokes were new to me last yr I dug em up off a friends plot and planted them on mine, and the asparagus is only 2 yrs old so not had a crop off it yet.
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I hope you are right Learner, the globe artichokes were new to me last yr I dug em up off a friends plot and planted them on mine, and the asparagus is only 2 yrs old so not had a crop off it yet.
Well we can but hope.... I read or heard somewhere recently that someones asparagus has only just begun to appear so there is still a bit of hope left - fingers and everything crossed for you! ;)
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Problem being, if all grown in pots, do you empty the pots out and start again or wait and see.
What I did last year is all the dead looking ones I put in B&Q buckets out of sight to see if they greened up, one or two out of 10 ish did.
I have come to the decision to do the same again this year, put all the dead looking ones mostly geraniums in a big trough etc out of sight and start yet again, my fault even bought bubble wrap this year to put around them but always too cold in the garden to feel like wrapping them up.
Don't want and can't afford lots of new pots.
I have tried the scrape a bit of stem on the geraniums but still can't tell.
My daughters plants are the same with her asking me how long should I wait to see if they are alive.
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Heating a greenhouse to keep geraniums alive through a long winter is not economical - lifting them, knocking off the soil and hanging them um in a frost free garage works...
A bit late now but it might we worth experimenting with one or two at the end of this autumn? ;)
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Oh Learner if only I had a greenhouse haha. I have told myself to hang them upside next year or at least use the bubble wrap I bought to wrap them up with,wether I listen or not is another thing LOL.
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Oh Learner if only I had a greenhouse haha. I have told myself to hang them upside next year or at least use the bubble wrap I bought to wrap them up with,wether I listen or not is another thing LOL.
I found it hard to keep them free of botrytis - hanging them up to allow a bit of air circulation sounds good in theory... :blink:
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Hi Broadhaven re passion flowers I bought seed from Original touch as I was told they were easy to grow - all the instrcutions are in German :( but I get the gist of it - this will be the first time I've grown these from seeds and as yet they have not made an appearance - but there was plenty of seed to have another go. I think they might take time to flower but I'll report back - as to big freeze sadly myrtle who has battled on for 15 years challenged by a bonsai that forgot it was one , ivy and ground cover plant has almost given up. I pruned off three foot at the top and a lot of side branches leaving only heathy looking ones. It actually flowered twice last year and the berries are still there although shrivelled but the cold has caused a lot of damage. I hope she makes it :(
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my passion flower from seed flowered the same year :)
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Great MoS - fingers crossed this lot grow - I had a beautiful passion flower over two arches a couple of years back but the weight collasped and broke both arches and in the process of untangling I managed to kill it off :nowink:
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oooh I didn't lost alot but I did lose a parent Echeveria, a Crassula ovata and also a Lampranthus aurea
We did have some surprise survivors including a Bird of Paradise, and a Bougainvillea.
Jasmine has been cut to the ground though but is still alive, as is Passionflower.
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Rhubarb... I was hoping it might have snuffed it - fat chance, I know. I have a wonderfully healthy patch that my dad grew from seed. ::)
We eat very little of it and it is, presently, as green as the emerald isle... I think it is mostly to do with the variety..
A mate advised me to dig it up in autumn and leave it on the surface before replanting in the spring - improves the flavour apparently.
I think I might take a large spade to it and reduce its size before the shed vanishes underneath :( :blink:
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My globe artichokes and asparagus have not shown this yr, so i presume they have been frozen to death. :(
My asparagus lives :D but it only has one spear which is bent! It is only is only 3yrs old this yr so never had a crop from it yet. Has anyone got any suggestions how to revive it? or should I replace it?
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My globe artichokes and asparagus have not shown this yr, so i presume they have been frozen to death. :(
My asparagus lives :D but it only has one spear which is bent! It is only is only 3yrs old this yr so never had a crop from it yet. Has anyone got any suggestions how to revive it? or should I replace it?
Sounds alive and growing to me... give it a chance ;)
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I will give it a chance but if it does not do better I will replace it next yr, I cannot wait any longer for some asparagus to dip in my boiled egg. :D
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I will give it a chance but if it does not do better I will replace it next yr, I cannot wait any longer for some asparagus to dip in my boiled egg. :D
But it does look lovely in with a bunch of gladiolis later in the season! ;)