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April Showers

Rhododendron 'Blue Baron' Greetings from a wet, wet garden. In between rains, I've managed to get a few photos... (And sorry for the erratic quality of these. I have a new phone and still learning how to use it. Some of these are from the phone and others from my camera). Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' ('Dancing Peacock') Flowering Currant ( Ribes sanguineum ) 'King Edward VII' Clematis 'Stolwijk Gold' is beautiful for the first time after languishing in the garden for five years. Turns out, it is all my fault. This is a clematis that should not be cut to the ground in early spring. You live and learn, and I know that I will never understand the rules of pruning clematis.  Clematis 'Stolwijk Gold'  Aucuba japonica 'Rozannie' - the aucuba that doesn't really look like the others.  But what a fine shrub this is, especially for shady situations. This was planted in 2019 and didn't grow much for the first few years but n...
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The Deep Freeze



We are in a prolonged freeze with snow cover (I am guessing 3-4 inches).  Thankfully, this was a dry snow. It all started on Friday night with the majority of it hitting us yesterday. The temperature plunged to 18 where it remained all day with a constant snowfall. Actually, I am appreciative of the snow since it will help insulate plants during this long cold spell. It may be Thursday before we climb above 32 and freezing rain is predicted for Tuesday.

We had advanced warning and I covered some plants on Friday. 




I was more concerned with the hummingbirds and it is an endless job trying to keep them unthawed. At present, we have six feeders in the garden. I brought four of them inside for the night and the other two, the ones that are the most difficult to access, I covered with fleece that Michael rustled up for me. The next morning, the two feeders left out were frozen the next morning, but not solid and the hummingbirds were using them. I've been following that same cycle since then but today I put Christmas lights one of the feeders and hope that will do a better job. After all this, I'm seriously thinking about trying the hummingbird feeder heaters. It is rare, however, to have such a long stretch like this of freezing weather. 




We are fortunate that we did not get the harsh winds that Portland got and so far, we have not lost power. There have been power outages in our county but the worst areas are in Portland.






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Kris PetersonJanuary 15, 2024 at 10:22 AM

    Your garden looks lovely with its snowy blanket, Phillip. I hope that blanket protects your plants against the icy rain you expect later this week. I saw an interesting trick for keeping hummingbird feeders liquid on Instagram yesterday. My recollection is that the poster taped handwarmers to the bottom of the feeder.

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    1. AnonymousJanuary 15, 2024 at 11:02 AM

      Yes, I have heard that as well. I have not tried it yet.

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  2. tz_gardenJanuary 15, 2024 at 1:07 PM

    Your garden does look pretty with the blanket of snow. I can't believe how many days of freeze in a row! So glad your power stayed on.

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