Weather, weather, weather - what ever would I do without weather to fret over? Things don't look so gloomy now, two weeks after the big hail storm hit - read and see the photos here. I really thought Botrytis was going to move right in and take over, but it hasn't! Yeah, that means we will still be producing a catalog with great selection this summer. Worried customers who have read or heard about our misfortune have been calling and sending emails expressing their sympathy and concern. I am truly blessed to have such good people as customers that I can also call friends. I have also received emails from complete strangers who saw the page about the storm , their concern speaks volumes for the inherent goodness all gardeners seem to share.
My biggest concern right now is the hummingbirds, we have many who call this home, they were here before the hail storm, since then I have heard and seen none. I put out the hanging baskets on the veranda at the beginning of the week, that always brings them in close but still no sighting. It breaks my heart to think they may have all perished from that terrible hail storm.
We had another storm system go through this week, this time horrific winds accompanied rain. Uprooting and toppling trees, buildings flipped, it was pretty wicked! I can't imagine how bad it must have been in the open areas where buildings like trailers were flipped, considering how bad it was here and we are pretty sheltered. I watched 15 foot pine and spruce trees nearly bend over and touch the ground the force was so strong. It lasted about half an hour or so.
Thankfully, we escaped with little damage and only had to clean up dead trees knocked down in the native bush and one very large and beautiful Norwest Poplar that was planted the year my daughter was born (1996) at the playground. It does indeed provide shade, standing a good 20 feet tall and at least that wide, or should I say WAS that wide. A few years ago, we suspected it was struck by lightning as the tip split and today you can still see a solid crack all the way down the center of the 12-16 inch trunk. Despite the trunk split at the top, it continued to grow into a beautiful specimen with both sides leafing out each season. One side of the split broke off completely during this latest storm, which resulted in half the tree lying on the ground when all was done. And where did it land you ask? Of course, it landed right on top the corner of the nearest lily bed! Lilies damaged? Hard to tell due to the hail damage from last week!!
As a result of all the damage from the hail storm at the beginning of the month, I have no choice but to cancel our OPEN GARDEN event completely for this year. I was expecting Botrytis to finish the lilies off, but 2 weeks later we're without very much evidence of it so that's a good thing, and means I will be putting out a catalog this fall and maybe it won't be as slim as I first thought. It will still be delayed, likely the third week of July but sooner if possible. I'll be waiting until after July 1 to assess the lilies and make the list.
I plan to create a page or two to show you the fantastic new lilies we have under propagation, that came from Darm Crook in the NWT. These are exciting, thankfully they came up later from being planted last fall, so they were small enough to escape major damage from the recent hail storm and I'll still get to see them bloom.
In February I created a new Photo Gallery online, and added all the old photos and about 1000 new. There is still more to add yet, particularly those wonderful, exclusive Fellner hybrids we've been growing. But I must find the time to clean up the existing photos before adding more, as I see there were a few duplicate entries. Check out the online gallery here .
Time for me to get back to work, until next time -
have a great day!
