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My plants survived the snowpocalypse amazingly well. Several saplings I'd planted were badly damaged, but even those are still growing so hopefully will survive, if in somewhat unusual shapes.
One tree fell, not a favorite or a particularly big one. I kept the snag as a wildlife habitat, and was pleasantly surprised that when I told that to the arborist I'd hired to remove the fallen tree, rather than arguing, he knew what I was talking about and said that he'd kept several snags on his own property for that exact reason. I had the fallen tree mulched, so now I have an enormous mulch pile taking up one of my parking spaces.
We had a very unusual amount of rain lasting well into months when it's usually dry. Last week I found a salamander under a log I picked up to do something with! The salamander was tiny and adorable, smaller than my pinky finger; I picked it up because I couldn't resist, then replaced it and the log. I guess the log will just live there now. No idea where the salamander came from as it's normally not wet enough for them. Maybe they bury themselves until there's enough moisture to emerge? It was very encouraging to see it, anyway.
After two years of scattering poppy and other native wildflower seeds to no avail, I finally got little poppy sprouts! Really hoping they'll grow up to be plants, because if I can get them to seed stage, they'll reseed themselves and I'll get them every year.
I went to two native plant sales, one at Heaps Arboretum in Skyforest (up the hill from me) and one at Claremont Botanical Gardens (down the hill). Cross your fingers those plants survive better than the last set I got from the Arboretum, which did not do well. The mountains have a lot of microclimates so there's a lot of trial and error involved in seeing what survives where.
Saplings I planted last year, all thriving: birch, scarlet oak, ginkgo, Bartlett pear (main trunk snapped off in snowmageddon, lopsided branches now propped), Satsuma plum (big branch snapped off).
Saplings I planted this year, all thriving: Rainier cherry (has green cherries!), nectarine (has tiny green nectarines!), Carpathian walnut, Honeycrisp apple, Gala apple, Bing cherry (snapped in half when tree fell on it, still growing).
Food plants I have growing now: giant Bing cherry tree (now with some limbs netted to discourage squirrels; last year they ate ALL my cherries while they were still green), corn, squash, tomatoes, kale, herbs, blueberries, raspberries, giant blackberry hedge which I have barely dealt with this year and probably won't have time to.
I have been using the Picture This app to identify plants on my property. I highly recommend it - it's by far the most accurate I've tried. Here's a non-exhaustive list of what I have growing in my yard:
Planted by me (non-native): tulips. They grow incredibly well here.
Planted by me (native): California poppies, creeping snowberry, western blue-eyed grass, blueblossom ceanothus, golden currant, salmonberry.
Already there (native): Elegant fairyfan (clarkia), small enchanter's nightshade, false mermaidweed, Humboldt's lily, miner's lettuce, thimbleberry, Pacific dogwoods, incense cedar, pine, wild plum, bracken ferns, wild strawberry, Canyon live oak (accidentally coppiced - cut down, now an enormous bush), black sage, California bay.
Already there (non-native): Lunaria (silver dollar plant/moneyplant), sweet violet, periwinkle (vinca), daffodils, chickweed, honey locust, Norway spruce, hollyhock, guelder rose, camellia, spiraea, feverfew.
The land around my house is absolutely magical in spring. It has so many different areas, all like tiny little forests and gardens. The ferny areas look like how I always imagined the forests in Narnia in spring.
One tree fell, not a favorite or a particularly big one. I kept the snag as a wildlife habitat, and was pleasantly surprised that when I told that to the arborist I'd hired to remove the fallen tree, rather than arguing, he knew what I was talking about and said that he'd kept several snags on his own property for that exact reason. I had the fallen tree mulched, so now I have an enormous mulch pile taking up one of my parking spaces.
We had a very unusual amount of rain lasting well into months when it's usually dry. Last week I found a salamander under a log I picked up to do something with! The salamander was tiny and adorable, smaller than my pinky finger; I picked it up because I couldn't resist, then replaced it and the log. I guess the log will just live there now. No idea where the salamander came from as it's normally not wet enough for them. Maybe they bury themselves until there's enough moisture to emerge? It was very encouraging to see it, anyway.
After two years of scattering poppy and other native wildflower seeds to no avail, I finally got little poppy sprouts! Really hoping they'll grow up to be plants, because if I can get them to seed stage, they'll reseed themselves and I'll get them every year.
I went to two native plant sales, one at Heaps Arboretum in Skyforest (up the hill from me) and one at Claremont Botanical Gardens (down the hill). Cross your fingers those plants survive better than the last set I got from the Arboretum, which did not do well. The mountains have a lot of microclimates so there's a lot of trial and error involved in seeing what survives where.
Saplings I planted last year, all thriving: birch, scarlet oak, ginkgo, Bartlett pear (main trunk snapped off in snowmageddon, lopsided branches now propped), Satsuma plum (big branch snapped off).
Saplings I planted this year, all thriving: Rainier cherry (has green cherries!), nectarine (has tiny green nectarines!), Carpathian walnut, Honeycrisp apple, Gala apple, Bing cherry (snapped in half when tree fell on it, still growing).
Food plants I have growing now: giant Bing cherry tree (now with some limbs netted to discourage squirrels; last year they ate ALL my cherries while they were still green), corn, squash, tomatoes, kale, herbs, blueberries, raspberries, giant blackberry hedge which I have barely dealt with this year and probably won't have time to.
I have been using the Picture This app to identify plants on my property. I highly recommend it - it's by far the most accurate I've tried. Here's a non-exhaustive list of what I have growing in my yard:
Planted by me (non-native): tulips. They grow incredibly well here.
Planted by me (native): California poppies, creeping snowberry, western blue-eyed grass, blueblossom ceanothus, golden currant, salmonberry.
Already there (native): Elegant fairyfan (clarkia), small enchanter's nightshade, false mermaidweed, Humboldt's lily, miner's lettuce, thimbleberry, Pacific dogwoods, incense cedar, pine, wild plum, bracken ferns, wild strawberry, Canyon live oak (accidentally coppiced - cut down, now an enormous bush), black sage, California bay.
Already there (non-native): Lunaria (silver dollar plant/moneyplant), sweet violet, periwinkle (vinca), daffodils, chickweed, honey locust, Norway spruce, hollyhock, guelder rose, camellia, spiraea, feverfew.
The land around my house is absolutely magical in spring. It has so many different areas, all like tiny little forests and gardens. The ferny areas look like how I always imagined the forests in Narnia in spring.
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It sounds like you're growing quite a lot! You must have a pretty big lot?
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I guess this is a partial consolation for the horrors of the winter.
P.
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I have sworn that if I ever move to the right climate, I will have a Japanese garden [1] put in. (Not possible here in the sense that our climate/soil/etc. are all completely wrong.)
[1] I'm Korean but I think my odds of finding someone in the USA who knows Japanese Garden 101 are much higher, and despite some differences they are roughly similar in aesthetic.
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...hell. I'd settle for growing bluebonnets, but I've ascertained that they won't survive where I am. XD
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