That nasty Discontented Winter has created some gaps in the gardens. Big gaps. It’s icy tail flicked across the gardens and sent killing shivers down the spines of trees and vines.
The peach tree and a couple of a little apple trees -Dead. Also a big apple tree and a pear – Dead. Sopsta’s bright yellow magnolia only has three blooms but is coming along, though Donna’s magnolia is doing exceptionally well. Not dead. 
and all the roses have dead canes but most are growing back from the base which is often a rootstock (but I quite like the wild rootstock varieties) .There is worse news though. 
The Ladybird Wine grapes (Vidal Blanc) are showing no signs of anything at all. All the canes are dead. Misery. Could there be No More Wine!? Horrors! Even my table grapes are showing no signs of life. Only one remains alive. How can I drink wine without grapes! (rhetorical question – no question mark). Of course I will plant more vines on the new trellises but they take four years to mature, I have learnt way too much about wine making to stop now. But.. sigh… I will keep checking for signs of life.. but so far – Dead. A bitter blow.
Can you see Tima on the other side of her gate, waiting for me to surface?
She really does look like a puff fish when she lies down. Wait here is another angle.
Well, that is not a very flattering angle either. She looks more like a piebald blob that someone forgot to wipe up. She is such a good piggie and she loves all people and all animals. All the visitors get some Tima loving.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
You can put in requests you know. If you miss your favourites.. let me know! My days are full of gardening now and mowing and watering and all that lovely summery stuff!
Daisy’s milk was clear yesterday. Excellent. Hopefully that lasts a little while.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
52 responses to “The Winters Tail”
Tima is a real darling. Winter really can be ugly.
Have a lovely day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
That reminds me, time to wrap the softies in the garden – Jack Frost due here any day now 😦 Maybe the sap will still rise in the vines once you warm up a bit more? Laura
Don’t give up yet on the apparently-dead plants, Celie! Here is the Washington DC suburbs (zone 7) my 15-year-old fig looks dead, as do my Reliance table grapes, but friends at the National Arboretum say to wait at least until the end of June before even cutting them back.
Lynn
Righto Lynn, I have not cut anything back yet, and that is good news, I shall wait until then. Good tip. Thank you.. c
How is your asparagus patch?
There are some holes but all in all i am picking about two pounds a day.. tasty!.. c
same here. my 15 year old wisteria….gone! all of my climbing roses of the same age….done for. lavender…dead. beautyberries…toast! lots of my holly and ivy took a hit but i am waiting before i cut it back. my grapes are finally just putting out buds after looking deader than door nails so there is hope. my weeds, on the other hand, are doing better than ever!
Oh NO! your wisteria, that is terrible news. But I must wait a bit longer by the sounds of it, before we do anything.. This winter took many of us into a different zone though, we are Zone 5, are you a 6?.. c
we are in zone 5 here too. i am not sure i am sad about the wisteria. i had 3 large plantings of it and it was getting scary. it twists around everything and was splitting wood on my pergola. so, mother nature took care of it! i am sad about my ‘new dawn’ climbing roses but i will just replant them. it will take about 4 years for them to fill in. they were growing over my potting shed and doing damage to the shingles so now i can clean that up. so, in general i am looking at it as a good thing. i hope your grapes come back. that is a tough one!
I love wisteria but you are right, I was in an old house once where it was tearing the walls apart, but OH it was beautiful. and the scent!
Oh Celi! Being the nature lover that I am tears are there for trees and shrubs lost: loving care wrecked by a brutal winter. You can see some regrowing: you know judicious pruning and feeding and watering will bring them back to life. But I do feel for those wine grapes . . . just believe that the glass is half full and not half empty and begin again . . . all my love and hugs and enjoy the three warm days coming up over the weekend [yes, I do check you weather with mine 😀 !!]
Wait a bit longer before you take down the mature trees – they can surprise you. So sorry to hear about the grapes! Most of my thyme is dead, but at least that’s easily replaced…
Enjoy the warm…as Tima obviously is 🙂
Yep I join all the gardeners out there that are sighing “oh no’ as they look at what the winter killed. Lost my Gardenia, a red tip holly, Rosemary bush, Butterfly bush, Sage, and a lot of other things that still might come back, but not looking promising!. One would like to think that the past winter was a one-off, but I have a suspicion that it is a sign of things to come. Therefore being careful to plant real hardy stuff from now on and will be covering a lot of things come Autumn.
Hugs, Lyn
I have done a wee study on these bad winters, (in the midwest) there were two others the early 60’s and the late 70’s (I was here for one of those too) that caught my eye as both times it was two bad years in a row, so maybe we should not rush replant the borderline species.. c
I had an older farmer in here a while back. He had read that because of changes that have happened in the atmosphere that our winters would be more like the one we just had! UGH! I think I will retire and never leave the house if that happens! 🙂 OR rent a room at the Coupe! By the way…do you still need my silly menopause stories?
absolutely yes connie, we cut off this weekend, so if you can get your story in by then I would be delighted!.. c
Oh that Old Man Winter can be a bitter old curmudgeon! Taking your grapes and fruit trees! We have the same issue here -> much of our native grasses died over the winter and are showing no signs of coming back. Our little acre is sewn with all native grasses and we let it grow wild and free. Mow it once a year in the fall. Weeds are always an issue, as is the dreaded St Augustine grass the neighbor planted! I CURSE that grass constantly…. Who wants a grass with runners that TRIP you anyway? Mean grass. 🙂
I think my mother in law has the same grass, she is always saying “My grass is so long my toes get tangled up in it!” We have big gaps in the fields too, I was wondering if the winter hit some of the grasses. the alfalfa and clovers have come back nicely though.. c
aaww – my Tima!! I love Tima. Reminds me of someone… can’t put my snout on it…. oh yeah ME. Snorts. XOXO – Bacon
As sad as I am about your trees.plants and vines I am also grateful that, as yet, mankind is not able to control the weather.That would indeed be a disaster. With luck maybe some will still survive and God,s will
Don’t mourn your grapevines too soon. They survive hard, hard frosts and snow in Europe and come back again and again. They can be pruned after all danger of frost is past. With luck, you’ll see buds again. We don’t want your hard won skills going to waste! Please can I see more of Godot and Tima – she has gorgeous eyelashes, even if they need a touch of mascara!
OK kate, I am up there every day, and they are getting used to me. i will take the camera.. c
Winter of ’14 was brutal. I am so hoping that your plants/trees are very slow in waking up with the cold spring. Crossing fingers here!
Oh my, I read that as 1914 and how luck we were to have someone so much experience. Oops.
ha ha………… me too 🙂
Bwhahahaha! I love it!
I love the way animals can stretch out snd sleep no matter where they are. I must be doing things wrong. Maybe I should swap my comfy bed for the uneven ground outside!
I hear you, I so envy most of my animals, even my horse stretches flat out and snores and I can’t get a full night’s sleep in a select number bed! I follow all the instructions too, no lights, cool temps. etc.
Sorry about your gaps, specially the grape vines. Perhaps if you get a properly warm sunny spell of weather they will shoot from the souche (I don’t know the English word for the rootstock)? The peach also may regenerate – ours did at a previous garden. That magnolia is magnificent – there are a lot around here, but they were finished some time ago, so it’s good to see yours! Love, Vx