Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!

Winter was not willing to give in without a fight in our area this year. We had quite a bit of rain (probably 1 1/2" to 2") and very strong gusty winds over the weekend and it was pretty cold on top of that, too, until yesterday.



A big piece of a palm frond came down and hit the bird feeder in a way that it broke. So I had to get a new one.



The wind knocked over my two white camellias, which are growing in containers. Luckily there is not too much damage on them. 



Fresh rose buds were broken off...



... and new growth on the roses, too.



A lot of the newly spread mulch was landing in the pool.



Plant labels got blown through the yard.



Plenty of debris ended up in the freshly cleaned-up flowerbeds.




New rose flowers got beaten up by the rain and are now a mushy mess.




This rose, "The Prince" was supposed to be planted in the ground last Sunday, but this had to be postponed...




... even though the hole was almost ready for it, because nobody wanted to work outside in this bad weather.




But today it is the beginning of spring and the weather changed and became more appropriate at least in the day time (65 degrees Fahrenheit), even though last night was still pretty chilly. Some of my plants have sailed through the rough times with ease and I am thankful that the damage that the storm did was less severe than I had expected. The photo above shows a spray of  'Grandmother's Hat' beginning to open. Even at this stage the rose smells heavenly already.



'Sweetness', who lives in the front yard which is more protected seemed to enjoy the rain and is getting ready to open its first flower...



... and the 'Iceberg' roses in the backyard have pumped out fresh buds with no end despite the cold.



This bud of  'Moonstone' also pretends nothing has happened and is such a welcome sight. 

Wishing you all, my dear readers, a wonderful and enjoyable spring!

See you in the garden!

Christina



12 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about all your wind damage. Maybe it was nature's way of doing a bit of radical pruning. Or maybe she was just in a bad mood. Anyway, it's officially spring now, so let the fun begin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ouch! This is sad but fortunately, not too hard on the garden. I must be very positive because the first thing I thought was to keep the piece of palm to integrate it to the garden as a piece of natural art LOL.

    Hope there will not be another windy day like this for a long time. 8)

    ReplyDelete
  3. At least the stormy weather has gone past now and the weather has improved. Have a fabulous spring ahead! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bad weather is gone and the spring is here. Wishing you sunny days, Christina !
    Lovely blooms on your camellias.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Crystal, I just hope that was it in terms of severe storms and as you put it "let the fun begin"!

    VertGrenouille, after checking out the garden today in the morning again, it became clear that some of the fresh rose leaves are pretty beaten up, but I know the garden will get over it very quickly. It is amazing to me how much plants can take and just shake it off.

    Mark and Gaz, the weather indeed has improved here. Today is even nicer and warmer than yesterday :-)!

    Dani, your wish has already come true! I love my white camellias, too!

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  6. That was a lot of wind! So sorry your bird feeder got destroyed. :( I think i hate the wind more than any other type of weather. Glad the weather has changed for you. Looks like the roses are anxious to bloom!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think I would pink a tear seeing what the wind did to my garden. But I agree with you that it amazes me how quick everything recovers in the garden after this kind of weather. Whising you a lot of sunshine.
    gr. Marijke

    ReplyDelete
  8. Holley, yes gusty winds can be very destructive for the garden. The bird feeder is already replaced and the birds are happy about it :-)!

    Marijke, it made me a little sad, too, to see the wind damage in the garden, but it could be a lot worse. So I just removed damaged plant parts and hope that the garden recovers quickly, the front yard is pretty much OK, but the back yard where the winds were hitting the hardest has some healing to do.

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wind can be frustrating because it's so desicating, but at least you had some rain to counter its damage. Every time I read your blog I learn the name of another rose I'd never heard of. :o) 'Grandmother's Hat' seems like such an odd choice for a plant name. I'm glad your garden bounced back.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Casa Mariposa, you are so right wind without rain would have been even worse!. I am glad when I am still able to surprise you with a new rose ;-). 'Grandmother's Hat' is indeed a wired rose name, but don't let the name fool you the rose is truly beautiful.

    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  11. So sorry to see all that wind damage, how sad! I think I'd cry if I came out and saw my Camellia's knocked over and rose buds scattered on the ground. Hope your garden recovers and that you have a wonderful CALM spring!! Cheers Julia

    ReplyDelete
  12. Julia, the garden has recovered mostly already, except for some very torn up rose leaves. It is amazing to me with how much plants can put up. I still also wish for a calm spring :-)! Hope you have a nice one, too.

    Christina

    ReplyDelete