Late Spring Frost

April 17th.

Two weekends ago we had a devastating late frost. It came in after all of the trees had set flower buds and my shrubs were showing new growth and my garden was just starting to look alive and colorful. My hyacinths had come up and I could smell them from anywhere in the front yard. I'd just planted heather, thrift, a Cardinal flower, native Lupine, Blue Moon Phlox, and my Foxglove seeds had just sprouted tiny seedlings, all tender and ready for spring. Luckily, by covering everything with all the sheets in my house, I was able to save most of it, though as I pruned all the dead leaves today, I can see that I've definitely taken some losses. My Pieris, whom I call Pierre, took the hardest hit. He had put out a swarm of new growth that was just as green as grass and he was looking healthier than I've ever seen him. After pruning back the dead leaves today, he looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. A sad, sad sight. Ah well. With a little luck and some sunny, warm days ahead, he should bouncy back by the end of summer. As for my gardenia, I just don't know what to do with her. She has more black leaves than green and I can't tell if its the soil she's in that she doesn't like, or if she was just coming out of dormancy when the cold struck and killed her back. She hadn't put out any new growth since last year, but since the cold snap, she is looking mighty bad.
My potato sprouts died of course, but it looks like the onion, kale and lettuce seedlings may make it. Good old hardy veggies. We shall see, I suppose.