VERY early spring update (sorry no pics)!

[Paul Ont]

Hey all!
Thought I'd give a preliminary report after a relatively mild winter (though it was LONG and snowy). I'll only report what actually was visable since I can't see through 2+ feet of snow!
Yucca thompsoniana: Looks good, but the interior leaves are completely white. I can only hope that once the thaw comes the leaves 'green' up...

Phyllostachys nuda and P. aureosulcata: Completey brown, likely 100% top kill. Hopefully they return from the rhizomes.

Opuntia macrocentra: A hardy form from Mesa garden (i.e. 18). DEAD, 100% rotted. Not a chance in z. 5a.

1 Yucca elata DEAD (F*&^ing rabbits), others still snow covered.

Yucca baccata, glauca, filamentosa, glorisa variegata: Seem fine, but may just be frozen.

Magnolia virginiana v. aurtralis: Still 99% green. Amazing little tree...

Trachycarpus fortunei: Exterior leaves brown, interior still very green. Will spray it with fungicide.. Should be okay.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix: Doesn't seem to have suffered any additional damage, perhaps some minor spotting... Quite impressed.

Other stuff: Opuntia phaeacantha (many), basilaris (many), polyacantha (many), humifusa, etc. Cylindorpuntia imbricata, kleinae, whipplei, viridiflora, Echinocereus rechenbachii, fendleri, coccineus, viridiflora (uprooted), Escobaria missouriensis, vivipara, etc. etc... Seem to be fine...

I'll take some pics when more of the plants I think are alive prove to actually be dead!
Cheers,
Paul

[Alchris]

I'm glad that a lot of your cacti survived. It sucks that the bamboo died back to the ground.

I hope that the rest of your Yucca come out of the snow okay. It is too bad about the Trachy. I hope that it pulls through.

I finally got a look at all of my desert species. The Cylindropuntia Kleinea and Whipplea that you gave me made it. They look rough but so do the rest of the cacti except the O. fragilis. It looks dead. Although it is the hardiest of the bunch, it must not like the amount of moisture in the ground. Both yuccas look good, much better than last spring.

Allen

[Barrie]

So much is yet to be told in the month of May. This is the time when results make themselves evident.

Cheers, Barrie.

[Wes North Van]

I agree Barrie.
May is when you will know for sure what has made it and what has not.

Right now I haven't lost anything but who knows what the warmer temps will bring.

[DesertZone]

There is a good chance that your y. elata will come back from the root. One of mine was eaten down to the ground for three years in a row before it got big enough to hold its own. Thought it was dead many of times.

[nlafrance3]

Hey Paul:

What does your Phyllostachys nuda look like. Are the leaves brown or a yellowish color? I planted one of these in an exposed windy site that took -35c this winter and the leaves are a yellowish color but not brown and it for some reason still looks alive. Either way I think they grow back from the roots as long as they're snow covered.

[Paul Ont]

The elata that was chewed to the ground looks like the growth point is dead. Hopefully not, but that's the way it looks... I await the other 3 which are still snow covered. And I hope that the thompsoniana makes it.

The nuda is yellow (culms and leaves) it looked greenish/yellow until it had a chance to thaw out and now it's just crispy... Definately top-killed. Low was -23 with solid snow cover all winter. Too bad since it still looked good in January.

Allen- If the kleinae made it, I'll be impressed! The one (same plant) that I had out last year was crispy in May... I planted the few remaining cuttings in the fall along a south wall and they still appear green right now! Hopefully it pulls through! The other one that looks good ( a bit suprising) is C. spinosoir; but it may just be frozen. I'll give it a couple months before I say definately if it's been lost or not!

The palms are always a problem. They can look good then in June/July the spear will pull; or they can look like crap only to continue growth in late spring. Either way i liberally apply fungicide! I'm going to be adding at least one Sabal minor this spring, so I'll have more plams to worry about when it's -20C!

Cheers,
Paul

[lucky1]

Paul, that ton of snow cover probably helped more than you realize.
You'll likely have better news next month as it warms up (if it warms up (really chilly here for end March).

That thompsoniana MUST make it.
Barb