Losses and unusual weather patterns

[janemcgary]

I got around to the scheduled repotting of one-fourth of the collection in my bulb house, and discovered significant losses. In mid-January 2024 we experienced a 5-day period with temperatures around 20-24 degrees F. December 2023 had been historically warm here, and many plants were growing and flowering earlier than usual, in the garden as well. Several broadleaved evergreens that had not been damaged in comparable temperatures in previous years defoliated completely, but almost all have recovered. Notable among the bulb-house losses were species from the eastern Mediterranean, mostly grown from Oron Peri's seed collections; certain Crocus species (some had produced flowers, but the corms were obviously frozen); and some Californian species. Some of the lost species had grown well here for more than 10 years; of course, they weren't likely to be immortal anyway, but I'll miss them. A few treasures (e.g. Anemone biflora) were clearly in decline already.
 I had not covered the plunge beds of potted specimens, because I didn't believe it would get quite so cold, and a bad knee made getting around the raised beds hazardous. I did bring in the more delicate seedlings, which are OK. I got a new knee at the beginning of June and am working it, mixing potting soil and climbing in, around, and out of the raised beds. Next winter, I'll have covers ready if it looks like this is going to happen again, since the bulb house has only a solid roof and is exposed to ambient temperatures.