HORTPOURRI

Another batch of Greg’s hardwon tips, and a further update on that frozen Fuyu persimmon tree

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HERE IS MY Occasional collection of apparently unrelated gardening ramblings, this time associated with 2023's winter and the subsequent growing season in southern New England. It helps me to write down such items to better prepare myself for future seasons or to avoid mistakes that I have made in the past.

FUYU UPDATE

In general last winter was quite mild, January 2023 actually being the third warmest on record in Rhode Island, with spring bulbs confidently and substantially pushing their way up from the netherworld only a week past New Year's Day! More often than not, counterintuitive though it may sound, a very mild winter may not be the best thing for all outdoor plantings. So it was when the first weekend in February rolled around and a brutal Arctic air mass caused the official temperature to plunge to -9 degrees (F).

Many of my favorite yard trees were threatened by the temperature whipsaw in part because over the years I have selected specimens that some say do not really belong in my yard. They have had a good degree of success there because of a microclimate influenced by proximity to Narragansett Bay and supplemented by just plain dumb luck.

GREG COPPA is a writer, traveler and life-long plant enthusiast who gardens in Rhode Island.

Most susceptible to winter damage have been mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), large potted European fan palms (Chamaerops humilis) and century plants (Agave americana). Over the decades I have had to replace all these at least once.