Plant Protection!

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Athough a plant may be hardy in our region, that doesn't mean it's bulletproof. Hardy means it's probably not going to die in the Winter. I have a lot of plants in my garden that are called hardy, but require differing amounts of protection, and different methods.

Today I'm going to talk about a plant by my front door that I just love, Daphne odora marginata or Winter Daphne. It's a small evergreen shrub that gets to about 2.5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. It has shiny green leaves with a small variegation around the margin. The amazingly fragrant flowers appear in small pale pink clusters in early spring.
This is a hardy plant. The problem is, last Winter with our huge snow storm and this year before even the official start of Winter, we've had several days with low temperatures in the teens and even below! When this happens, without any protection, the leaves get burnt and turn brown. Not too appealing when those flowers start to pop out in the Spring.

What to do?
Sometimes you'll see people put a sheet over them or some brown paper bags. My solution is Christmas lights! Not only are they pretty, they also produce a few degrees of heat, which is just enough to protect the leaves and flower buds even down the the 9 degrees farenheit we hit in my garden last week. Here's an important thing to keep in mind: don't use the new LED lights! You'll save money on power, but they hardly produce any heat. Use the old strings of twinkle lights that have the little bulbs in them. For a little extra protection, you can also put a light sheet or thin tarp over the top to help hold in some of the heat.
I'm using a string of "Net lights" that I can just drape over the top of it at night, and easily pull off in the morning so as not to permanently weigh the plant down to the ground and turn it into a groundcover.
These techniques can be used on any marginally hardy broadleaf shrubs like this Daphne, Bay Laurel, Hebes, and Hardy Gardenia.

Lesson learned!
Okay, next year I'm going to follow my own advice and use the lights combined with an old sheet. As you can see from this picture, the net lights were not perfect and a few branches poked through. These branch tips are not dead, but the leaves are brown and ugly and won't be very attractive next to it's gorgeous flowers. I would have cut these stray branches off anyway to keep the shape balanced, but not until I've enjoyed the flowers.

Gardening in the winter!

Yes it's Winter, well Fall, but it's almost Winter and it has certainly felt like it for the last couple of weeks in the Northwest. At my house we've had two nights in a row that were below 10 degrees!
I guess that makes this the perfect time to start a blog about gardening! It's definitely not the frozen soil that has me inspired, nor the 4 layers of clothing required to ventured outside. But there is a lot going on with our plants right now, and a lot that needs to be done!
My wife has been giving me funny looks each night when I venture outside in my slippers and jacket cursing the frigid temperatures. Why would I do such a thing? First and foremost because of I love plants and secondly because I love what my plants do for me. Thus, I have certain responsibilities to keep them healthy and happy. And so I've decided to start my blog with tips on caring for our plant friends in Fall and Winter.
I hope you find helpful information here, and are inspired to observe what's happening in your garden all year, even when you're looking out at it instead of relaxing in it.