Maybe it’s because I’ve always considered myself the eternal optimist. Maybe it’s because no matter all the times in my life where I have crashed and burned I’ve always managed to once again rise from the ashes (my email is phoenix42 for chrissakes!) or maybe is because I just saw Rouge One (wait for it..)…but if there’s anything I have for my garden right now …it’s hope!
As I’m writing this blog, my first in a few months, the snow is melting/washing away and I’m beginning to see bits and pieces of my garden again. As you can see from the picture above, there wasn’t a lot left to see after this last snow storm!
Once all this melts and spring rolls around, it’s going to be a nail biter to see what survives. The snow and ice from this winter has already taken it’s first victim and it was a pretty big one. Each storm this winter has sheared off at least one or two branches of my Southern Magnolia that I planted when I first moved into the house about 4 years ago. Well, looks like I will looking for another focal point for the garden on the left side of my house….
This has always been one of my favorite spots in my garden…but, full disclosure, as I started to create the landscape with the new and wonderful things I was discovering as a new gardener, I actually regretted planting the magnolia. Well, mother nature has intervened and now I have an existential crisis on my hands for it’s replacement.
Everyone likes a before and after, right? Well, how about some after’s and before’s to help lift our spirits as we wait for the survivors of this winter!
I’m so glad I left this agapanthus alone and didn’t cut it back because it provide one of the few bright spots in my garden after the snowfall from hell!
It took a foot of snow to bring this miscanthus down! This guy is tough and never wilted in the toughest rain!
I just can’t even..so much newness planted and moved last year and most of my marginal plants live back here….
My biggest fear during these storms is people crashing into my garden. As you can see, there is no separation between the street and and the edges of my garden. You can’t even tell where one begins and ends!
As I wrap up my “hope” post, I dug into my photo library to find my first pics of my garden from last year…this is from Feb 5th and it’s the day I planted my Valentine’s Day present from the BF! Hopefully we are just a couple of weeks away from seeing some real signs of spring!
But the best part its….Looks like history is going to repeat itself and I’m going to get another tree for Valentines Day!
Here’s wishing the very best to all you fellow gardeners out there….Let’s hope for the best and if not, see you in our favorite nurseries!
mardigrasgardener 
So sorry about your Magnolia. I’m glad you showed the Before of that Agapanthus picture. I saw that snow version of it on Facebook and wondered if it could still be Alliums up after all this time. I really need to get some Agapanthus, they are such a pretty shade of blue (I’ve gone off orange, used to be my favorite, but blue’s a good color, don’t you think?)
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Thanks…I totally brain farted about the agapanthus…literally realized it a couple days ago…normally I just mix up acanthus and agapanthus! That one is Graskop if you are looking for a good one! It’s my very favorite. Btw’s…orange is my favorite color!
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Oh Alan – I totally hear you… Our house came with a MASSIVE Magnolia. As you probably know, it lost two branches in the December ice storm. It lost another two under the foot of snow we got. The biggest one was 4-5″ across! (Gasp!!) I guess they call them Great SOUTHERN Magnolias for a reason – with their catchall leaves, they were never meant to live where heavy weights fall from the sky. I’m looking forward to see what you plant in its stead. Other than its destructiveness, I actually loved the brief spell of snow – it looked so light and beautiful – even in the dark. I’ll take that any day over these incessant gray rains…
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Oh geezum! So sorry! Adding insult to injury, my mature Bracken’s Brown Beauty Magnolia lost a 4 foot branch during the melt down!
Bright side, the schefflera appears to still be doing okay!!!
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Oh good! I cheated and moved my Schefflera inside. Maybe all the things that will no doubt perish this winter will free up some space for it… 😉
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I’m sad about your magnolia..but I do love a good opportunity to find a replacement plant 🙂 We had an old snowball tree that the hubby’s great grandfather planted go down in the snowstorm. It’s going to mess with my shade plants. I’m feeling very worried about it but have promised myself not to panic and to let things evolve. That whole patience thing is not my strong suit.
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Oh no! Sorry to hear that…I was actually worried the magnolia was going to eventually provide too much shade for that area and that’s not really where I want to take that part of the garden.
We’ll pull through together!
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