Happy Death-Harvest!

In late winter or early spring comes what I call the Death Harvest time. In the Fall you harvest what was planted earlier. In the late Winter, you harvest the stuff that dies back, and all the dead stuff that didn't survive the winter. Some more lenient people would call it "Winter kill." Although there is significance to the killing frosts and winter cold (and this year, heavy snows) that destroy the tender growth, breaks branches and freezes back the tops of herbaceous perennials, there is also the part that I know that I'm responsible for. I trial a lot of plants that are borderline. These may be plants that remind me of my youth, such as Ceanothus or Cistus. These may be plants that are said to be hardy in Zone 7 but for some reason aren't really that tolerant of the fluctuating temperatures of late Spring in Albuquerque. But for whatever reason, this is a plant that doesn't have normal dieback, but for my planting it in a location that it doesn't appreciate or survive. Early Spring is the time to pay the piper and face reality.

This is the Death Harvest. This year, I know that I'll have to face facts and take out my beloved Cistus x aguilarii, which grew luxuriantly all summer due to the copious rain, but then fell prey to the cold and snow of December and January. It is what I call "crispiola", even though there are green leaves at the bases of the 3 foot branches that grew last year. Other Cistus will also have to come out. Also is the Ceanothus coerulea that I started from seed that was given to me from Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery in Oregon. He was kind enough to give me a handful of seed that he claimed would be hardy in Zone 7. He was right to a degree. The plant did fine through the snow, but when late winter's warm days followed by freezing days arrived, the plant just couldn't take it. It is probably fine in Oregon where the temperatures don't change as dramatically. There are some green leaves at the base, and the plant probably would be fine if I had covered it in the winter. But I don't want a garden of insulation material in the winter. This is the same thing that happened to my Ceanothus 'Victoria' which had two survival years, one fine year of blue flowers, and then promptly died in the winter cold. I'll have to take out some Rosemary 'Tuscan Blue' which gets too much tip burn in my area to bloom adequately, and although it recovers, it looks miserable right now. Coming out also is the Agave americana x scabra seen above. This was a sculptural wonder at the beginning, with the tips of the leaves gracefully curving inwards. But it was crushed by the snow this year, and the cold caused serious burns on the leaves. The slow growth of agaves will make this damage unsightly for a long time. I'm going to replace it with the hardier Agave parryi var. truncata, which although it doesn't have the sculptural height of the previous tenant, has it's own charm.

Also included in the Death Harvest will be plants that are in the wrong spot. These are plants that for some reason I thought would never grow out of the cute small stage, or that I was mislead by some book into thinking it wouldn't grow like it does. It may be that I thought I could get away with planting it, living in dreamland as I frequently do when ordering plants or planting them. Out will have to come the Chamaebatiera which the book said gets 2-5 feet tall, but obviously is more like the 8-12 feet tall and wide like the ones in the Albuquerque Botanic Gardens. Out will have to come the Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass, which is as beautiful as it is delicious to the rabbits. It also requires too much water, and looks too raggedy at this time of year. It's very sad, and to all the plants that I've done this to, and to all the plants that I'm going to do this to, I apologize. As they say in A Fish Called Wanda, "I apologize...without reservation."

Maybe I'll learn to plant only things that are not so borderline. I'll only plant only those things that are rated hardy to zone 6b, even though I'm squarely in zone 7. But where is the adventure in that? Maybe I'll find something that surprises me with its resiliency. This year it was the Agapanthus. I was sure they were dead after the cold. One of them was in the shade, and when the plant shading it was pruned back in August, the plant turned crispy in the sun. It didn't come back. Until a couple of weeks ago. I was giddy with surprise. Also coming back are the Agapanthus 'Black Beauty' which although it hasn't bloomed for me yet in the two years I've had it, is supposed to have black stems, dark purple flowers, and black seed heads. Agapanthus 'Blue Heaven' is on the comeback also. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.