Snow is melting, how are your plants looking? pt 2

Thanks Pirl, it's the pains of gardening. On the upside I found a viburnum full of buds, the joys of gardening.

Can you save the J Maple?

No chance of that Andy. I found the top half of it a few feet away.

Awful, Weeze. Looks like it's below the graft anyway so you would be left with the useless base.

Sorry Weeze :(

Walking onions are back up! The new Ben Lomand currant is looking good. Trying to get to planting peas today.

sorry weeze - i noticed today the snow snapped my baby dissectum diana's gem - it is above the graft although it does not look like it will make - will dig it up and put in a container in the ground and see what happens.

also noticed the my covey redbud has several split branches - should make it although it will be a few years till it looks good again.

Bummer, Bill.

yes it is - kinda tops the deer nibbles that i keep finding more of.

Two large branches snapped off one of my JMs, both on the same side. It looks terribly lop-sided now. If I prune off the lower branches on the other side, will it survive? They are about and inch or so thick.

soj what kinda of jm?

i would go ahead and trim the other side - took off branches larger than that from my cq jm

Pruning up to one third of any tree or shrub is never a problem. And I have done lots more on occasion. They are very resilient.

Sorry about the JM, Weeze! It was just a horrible winter for trees & shrubs....

It will be more than one-third if I trim (counting the portion already taken off by nature). There were two tiers of branches - the little weeping mop on top and about five larger, longer branches around the bottom. I'd have to remove the entire bottom tier to even it out. Bill, its a Tamukeyama.

I think my hibiscus didn't make it....anyone know if they die all the way back?

soj i would just trim it now - i took a lot off my cq in the back and do not expect any problems - how long has it been in the ground? if it has been a few years it should be established enough.

Yes they do, Jen. As long as it's not a ROS.

I agree with Bill, Christina. It will probably be fine. If you're really nervous, do half now and half in the fall after leaf drop.

I'm so disappointed - the entire top half of my dwarf redbud (Ace of Hearts) appears to be dead. I have leaves and flowers on the lower branches but absolutely nothing but dry sticks on the top half. Is there any way to salvage it? It's not just a few branches - it's literally everything above snow level. It survived its first winter - I have no idea why it didn't survive last winter. Any thoughts?

Did you do the scratch test to see if the branches are truly dead?
If they are I'd prune it back to the living sections

I snapped a few smaller twigs. Dry as a bone. It would look terrible if I pruned back to the living sections - it's literally the entire crown (about the top 2 feet) Boooo.

Redbuds have been iffy for me. I have a weeping one that is still showing nothing. Last year is was Don Egolf that appeared to be dead. This year it has a few teensy blooms. I would leave it alone for now. My Forest Pansy took forever to get going.

i agree with victor - several of mine still have not leafed out - i thought i lost an avondale though now i see some flower buds closer to the bottom

Happily surprised that all my crapes have completely returned. With this cold winter, I though some wood might have been lost. Not so. According to my min/max thermometer in the veggie area, we hit 5 below zero.

I'm glad to hear there might be a shred of hope. The entire bottom of the tree is leafing out and has many flowers. It seems unlikely that half the tree is a few weeks behind but I hope so.

i'm jealous you have leaves - only a few of mine do - will have to give them close inspection tomorrow

I hope it will be ok, Christina.

My husband patched together the maple he broke with the snowblower using some zip ties. It looks alive...I hope it somehow manages to fuse itself back together.

Despite the harsh winter, my plants did well overall. I gave up covering the hydrangeas and despite a few broken branches, they all are leafing out and I should have blooms. I left a couple hosta out in unprotected pots and learned that some will tolerate that and some won't. Should have some small, ugly shriveled leaves on a few, but they will be fine in time.

The leaves are tiny, tiny. I never noticed before that they are perfectly heart shaped even when they just start forming. Exquisite!

Colleen - I know the feeling. My husband maimed more than one tree/shrub with the snowblower last winter. Glad yours is on the mend!

My crape is gone, half of my huge shrub rose must be pruned away, the butterfly bush has some leaves, but not many....and 2 of the rhodos have many brown branches.....one of the deer devastated ones has put out new leaves...the other, no.