Kevin

Al

Al

I only had one hardy hibiscus until last year. Last summer I picked up a few more, then some bargain ones. A few have just a couple sprouts starting to show, but many are showing nothing. Now I'll give them another couple weeks before I start worrying (or returning the guaranteed ones).

I was ready to give up on mine and pull it out. But now I will wait for a few more weeks.

I have a Japanese Maple that I am waiting on also.

Diane

BUT to make you less anxious just scratch a branch or two to likely reveal the life affirming colour green beneath the grey bark.

Rhyse, I remember you had the really nice one with the oak type leaves you were trying to ID last year. I really liked that one a lot, more so than the flashy tropical looking types with the huge flowers.

Maybe this year we will both see some flowers.

We still haven't had more than one day at a time of temps in the 70's/80's so the ground is very slow in warming up.

Vera

Our low temp in winter was 6 but it was not an extended period of extreme cold like in other areas although we were extremely dry which caused damage. In this part of the country inconsistent rain amounts, temps etc are the norm so we are used to unpredictability & "weirdness".

I have many plants that are off this year while others seem normal. The Russian sage is big and blooming now however Cenizio (Texas Sage) is still leafing out very slowly & some branches are still forming buds, usually its full of leaves in April & has bloomed by now. I had to cut many plants back to remove winter kill, some down to the ground. Salvia greggii are blooming but some died. Same with Salvia 'Lips'. Salvia's such as 'May Night' are long past blooming & going to seed. I've got Switchgrass up to my thighs & its putting out some panicles of bloom, which shouldn't happen until late summer while other grasses are still putting out new growth. Some hardy Lantana made it, others didn't.

I've seen several big hardy Pomegranite trees that are dead with suckers coming up around the area and many untrimmed shrubs that look the same in yards not maintained.

As a rule, I am not digging anything up until I know for sure, many others are doing the same. The plants that bloom in spring are well past that point now except a few are just coming around late but for the most part the summer bloomers have taken over. Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer in real time down here, spring is definitely just a nice memory as we hunker down for a long hot summer.

From what I have read on GW plants are off or just dead from the NE all the way down into Texas. Patience is the rule this year, everything seems off. I feel for some of the folks up north because it sounds like its going to be a much shorter than normal growing season for ya'll.

I expect the nursery's will be having a booming sales year.

Which one do you think might look best there? I actually bought the Midnight Marvel thinking the leaves and red flowers would look good with the maple, now I am wondering if the contrast would be better.

Kevin

My Japanese Maple did not bud and I think its a loss. So sad :(

Also I do see life on my other one now :D I thought for sure it was a goner as it was a sad looking clearance plant.

I have several, and the ones that I've had for awhile leafed out almost a month ago. But I planted two as seedlings last year and I haven't seen any sign of life in them yet. So I bought a replacement for one yesterday. I'm going back and forth with whether or not to dig out the ones that didn't come back yet and put the new one in.

All but ONE. I thought it was probably dead, so today I started to dig it out. Luckily, I was gentle with my digging. Almost immediately, I noticed a green bud on a stem an inch or so below the soil. It lives!! 100% success with mine and the coldest winter in a decade.

Kevin

Kevin