April showers brought snow..
so the arboretum IS NOT open this weekend. Not even "softly".
Well, with May right around the corner, this last week has finally tipped the temperature gauge out of the freezing temperatures, with its unwanted precipitation in the form of sleet, and snow (yes we had non-sticky snow last week!!)
Finally we have some semblance of what we think about when we think of spring weather.
Unfortunately, we will not be opening this coming weekend because the colder temperatures did not allow us to accomplish the work needed to have the grounds safe and ready. We are offering a Walk & Talk Tour on May 4th (see below), and the arboretum will officially open on May 10th to the public.
But if you CANNOT wait until then we have two special events happening the weekend before that. One at Hortus, so a sneak preview of sorts, and the other offsite that we hope you will join us at:
May 3rd - We will be speaking about native plants at Stonecrop Gardens (see below), so please come and learn about all the wonderful plants that we hope will inspire you to put one (or many) in your garden.
May 4th - Curators Walk & Talk Tour - Join us for our first walking tour of the season, where we will highlight some of our favorite plants happening in early May
May 10th - Hortus is officially open! Members, come by and pick up your “thank you for being a member” gift.
May 31st - Magnolia workshop with Wendy Hollender & Draw Botanical. This special class will spend all day at the arboretum drawing. Visit here for more details.
June 1st - Tree ID class with Levi O’Brien - Levi is back, and he will explore the different characteristics of native and naturalized trees to help you build confidence in your own tree identification practices. Levi will be offering 2 different sessions on tree ID, and they will not cover the same material.
June 7th - Eco-Printing with Bonnee Pecquex - Eco-printing is an artistic technique that involves using plant materials to create unique and intricate patterns on fabric. Bring your own material or use some from the arboretum to make your own scarf. For more information and to sign up check out the calendar.
June 15th - The Annual Plant Sale Redux - This year, we have invited Hazelmor Nursery, Second, and Treadlight Nursery to sell plants alongside us. Check their websites for preordering or just come that day and check out all the plant goodies.
June 28th - The annual Art in the Garden event - Lori Merhige is the featured artist this year!
OFFSITE EVENTS
May 3rd - Stonecrop Gardens - Scott & I will be giving a presentation that will focus on how to grow, care for, and maintain some of the lesser-known but very garden-worthy native plants. We will have signed copies of our book, ‘Cold-Hardy Fruits & Nuts’ after the event. Click here for more info.
May 17th - Beatrix Farrand Garden - Come join me as I discuss native trees & shrubs. Using the plants at the Wild Garden at the Beatrix Farrand Garden, I will go over best planting practices, basic cultural information, as well as aesthetic considerations. This is a free event. I will sell signed copies of our book, ‘Cold-Hardy Fruits & Nuts’ after the event. Click here for more info.
This newsletter is going to be on the shorter side as to the fact that there is so much to do outside to get the gardens ready for visitors. I do want to address why so many Rhododendrons look(ed) like this:
This is from winter injury and drying winds. Patience is key as you wait for the plant to bounce back, which it very well may do. In the meantime, you can remove dead leaves to make way for new ones. Symptoms of winter injury and drying can be varied, but are usually characterized by browning of leaves, dieback of tips and branches, desiccation of growing tips or twigs, and longitudinal rolling of leaves along the midvein. All of these traits are exhibited in the above photos.
These symptoms present on shrubs of all ages and on those growing in both wind-swept and sheltered locations. Often these injuries are the result of many environmental factors that often have little in common other than they occur during the winter. They can include sudden temperature fluctuations, excessive or late season fertilization, lack of snow cover, drying winds, and late spring frosts. The most common type of winter injury on rhododendron is excessive drying. This results from factors that create a water deficit in the shrub. This type of injury occurs when water evaporates from the leaves on windy or warm, sunny days during the winter or early spring. Drying occurs because this water is not replaced since the roots cannot take up enough water from cold or frozen soil. In the Hudson Valley we had a particulary windy winter and early spring.
Hard-hit can be recently transplanted shrubs that lacked well developed root systems and established shrubs of all sizes and ages that had root systems that were predisposed and damaged by excess water or drought. Giving your Rhododendrons sufficient moisture in the root zone before the soil freezes is one way to avoid desiccation, and this can be accomplished by giving the shrubs a deep watering before the ground freezes in the fall. Because rhododendrons roots are very shallow, it's important to use a thick layer of mulch to provide protection from the cold which also increases moisture retention in the winter.
Avoid late summer and early fall fertilization—this stimulates and encourages growth late in the season that may not harden-off properly for the winter (this is really applicable to all woody plants, not just Rhododendrons.)
Although you can do very little about the environmental conditions you can try making a windbreak made from burlap, lattice or a snow fence can help prevent damage from winter's drying winds. Patience is key as you wait for the plant to bounce back.
I have been trying to do a daily “Note” on Substack about what I did “gardening” wise for the day, to try and capture what some of my daily tasks are. They’re short, and I was writing them at night before my bedtime, but I found they were putting me to sleep. Hopefully that doesn’t happen to you, but maybe if you have trouble sleeping, its a good thing.
Thanks for reading along and see you in the gardens!
Allyson
So glad you mentioned the Rhododendron dieback. Shocking! We have 1 large one that is about 3/4 affected, another with less and 1 with no damage. I thought it was because they are old and in our 7 years on the property we have not done anything to them… I do see new growth under the worst one and was tempted to cut out all the brown leaves/ branches but decided to wait and see if they flower( unlikely as the flower buds are brown)then prune.
How long should I wait to see if they bounce back? Does that mean the brown leaves will turn green or that there is new growth below ?
If no recovery, what’s the best was to prune them?
Thank you from Saugerties
Dona