We've had some of the worst see-saw freeze-thaw weather this spring than
in all of the last 20 years. Last night was another vicious deep freeze
dipping down to 27 deg F (for several hours) after 2 weeks of 40 to 80
deg F temps. I covered my garden as best I could but my efforts were
not enough for certain things.
My un-named historic irises took the biggest hit, 90% of them are curled
over with the top of the stalks now pointing straight down to the
ground. Half of my clump of 'Satans Mistress' is the same. All of
these were on the verge of blooming yesterday!
Iris tectorum was particularly hard hit this spring. 100% of the plants
I have in beds away from the house look like tissue paper from the
freezes we had in April. I thought the plants up against the house
might be able to survive last night, but those that were in flower look
like tissue paper this morning, except for the lucky ones I protected.
I never knew tectorum was so marginal here. I used to only have it in
flower beds against the side of my house. But a couple years ago as I
grew more varieties from seed I had to put them in beds farther out.
And now I realize that's just not going to work in Ohio. They need more
protection.
There's another light freeze forecasted Tuesday. Ugh......
Dennis in Cincinnati
