Re: Ice



On Tue, 20 Jan 1998, Anne Bernard wrote:

> Anyway, can someone tell me how this ice will affect my perennials? Last
> year we had ice early on and I lost a few things that apparently smothered,
> but we had no snow cover before the ice came. This year we have about 10
> inches of snow left. Will this absorb the ice?

The conditions here weren't exactly the same, but similar enough that I
think I can give you some hope. Last spring's Red River Valley flood
was immediately preceded (or, for those of us on the southern end of the
Valley, interrupted) by a huge ice storm/blizzard combination.  Before the
storm, most of the snow had melted, the frost had gone out of the ground
in much of my garden, and about half of beds were partially under water. 
Some of the perennials had even started to break dormancy. Temps fell
from the mid 30s to the minus 20s degrees F. When the storm ended, plants
and trees were coated and my garden was under a 8-10 inch slab of ice,
with an inch or so of snow on top. To my amazement, I did not lose a
single perennial, even though we all quickly became far too busy trying to
save homes, etc. to worry about plants.  Foliage, branches, etc. were
damaged by the ice and wind, of course, but everything came back and
thrived. Good luck, your plants may be tougher than you think.
   
Terry Kroke
Moorhead, Minn.  USDA zone 4a
kroke@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu


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