Molded by the Ice

When I went out with my camera yesterday, the ice still held my plants hostage - this relative of papyrus hadn't thawed a bit at 4 in the afternoon.

The cut -off stems of Hedychium coronarium/Hawaiian White Ginger bore an odd resemblance to the Cat tails that grew in Illinois swamps.

Over in the triangle garden, the 'Little Gem' magnolia leaves were gradually emerging, dropping clear replicas of themselves on the grass.

The Loquat leaves were still encased too, with most of the branches still bent. I experimented, holding a leaf and trying to slide off the ice, but it held on tight, so I left it to melt on its own.

But this turned out to be quite unlike my previous experiences with ice storms in the North. Many times ice would arrive just ahead of a thermal drop, so the ice would last longer, and the temperatures would be very, very harsh. I don't think we went below 28ºF here, and the unfreezing process was amazing to me.

This afternoon - ta da! My darling Loquat is rebounding I think, although one limb is now completely horizontal, blocking the patio exit at eye level instead of arching 8 feet overhead as it did a week ago. Ki has advised me that props may be necessary, and if we're going to use the patio, at least this branch will need support.

The ground is littered with browned and frozen loquats; the tiny fruits had just begun developing. A few remain on the tree, but winter isn't over, so my dreams of actually eating any this spring may stay dreams.

Today the 'Little Gem' magnolia [a small tree, shorter than I am] is standing straighter, but the center is more open, with the branches fanned out. The boxwoods look better, but have a new shape, too.

It's one in the afternoon, and we haven't thawed out as quickly here as Pam/Digging and MSS/Zanthan have reported - ice remains floating in birdbaths and in the pots.

I wonder if there will be permanent effects from the bending? From our decades of visiting the Chicago Botanical Gardens, I remember watching as trees were gradually forced into appropriate shapes for their Japanese gardens, with weights tied onto ropes, then suspended from branches. It took years in order to make them grow horizontally, but I may have a head start on that tortured, lateral look.

Is it time to start shopping for stone lanterns?

Grit Needed

Is there beauty in this? Some people can find art even in ice, but I'm having a difficult time joining their ranks. When I opened the blinds yesterday and saw the bowed Loquat, it was like a fast punch to the midsection, and I felt myself spiraling down to a very bad place. Maybe living through decades of midwestern ice storms meant that this sight set off a kind of post-traumatic thing, or something like that. Whatever the reason, all I could feel was despair. To paraphrase Private Benjamin - this was not the Austin I'd signed up for. But today, looking at the blog posts by Pam/Digging and MSS/Zanthan has helped. They're not hiding inside, they're taking photos and even putting videos on YouTube, so I went outside, too. And soon I felt a spark of the scientific curiosity lurking in all gardeners. What will defrost and live? What will immediately rot? Will the oleander ever stand upright again? It will be especially interesting to see whether the native plants can take such a prolonged period of imprisonment in frozen rain.

Henry Mitchell said it well, "It is not nice to garden anywhere...There is no place, no garden, where these terrible things do not drive gardeners mad."

But he also said, "What is needed around here is more grit in gardeners."

My Austin friends have that grit - maybe I can summon up enough to go pour hot water in the bird bath and set out some sunflower seeds.

ICE...ICE...ICE

Did any of you grow up hearing that your body completely replaces its cells every seven years? This was once taught in health class – the teachers told us that we became a new person from the inside out after each seven-year cycle.

If it’s true – then after more than seven years in Austin, my own body has lost whatever winter survival skills those replaced cells once had – turning me into a wimpy weather whiner.
It’s creepy outside, and will stay below freezing until at least Wednesday, with many schools, city offices, and businesses closed for ice. This is not a big deal for most of you, but in Austin we depend on the temperatures to go above freezing during the day – a fact that affects how we landscape our gardens, the kind of windows used in our houses, the exposed plumbing systems and the kinds of clothes and shoes that we own. It may also explain why there were five men in the express line at the HEB grocery earlier… in light jackets, some in shorts, all wearing caps, and each one toting a 12-pack of beer.

Before the ice encrusted everything, I ran out to cut the iris that had budded a few weeks ago. It's in water, and still might open. I bought this two summers ago at an iris society sale, labeled as a hybrid Purple variety. The color in this photo is pretty true-to-life - that bud doesn’t look as if it will bloom purple, does it?




While this new iris may still be a beauty, it may have to be moved, because that spot calls for a purple-blooming plant. About six years ago I bought a plant labeled "Blue Iris" at a Hyde Park housewalk. It bloomed like this last March and the flowers smelled like orange sherbet.

This is one of my favorite iris plants now, but I still really want some purple ones and hope the recently planted purple ones from my friend Sophia and the new start of Pam/Digging's iris called 'Amethyst' will not take years & years to bloom.

Every year in mid-January, I stay up late and get cramps in my hands, compiling the annual Divas of the Dirt Diary. It’s not a blog – more like an impressionist ramble through the past year, with as many photos as possible. This is last year's edition. I’ve been immersed for days, with no end in sight…so for once this is a short blog post – not a class in ancient garden history!

I'll be back sooner or later!

Annie

PS
So many of you have moved to the new Blogger, but I’m still standing on the edge of the pool, shivering in my towel. Since my posts have been going in many different directions lately, the idea of tags and indexing is very tempting! Are you glad you changed over?
Do the drawbacks outweigh the advantages?
What should I watch out for?
How much time should I set aside for the transition?
Should I do this, yes or no?
All advice will be gratefully received!!