• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Speaking
    • Upcoming Speaking Engagements
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Positively… Cold, But What About 2002, 2005, and 1925?

April 5, 2007 By Carol Michel 14 Comments


Let’s look at the positives first. After a night of freezing temperatures and a cloudy, cold day, the tulips don’t look so bad. They are all upright and not too much clashing orange, yet.

The star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) was in full bloom last week, when I took this picture, so it was just about finished with its big spring show before the cold hit and I got to enjoy it for a week or so. That’s a good thing because…

… after last night, it doesn’t look so good. It looks quite miserable.

And this is a picture of the crabapple blossoms after the cold night and day, taken at about the same spot where I took a picture yesterday to put on yesterday’s post. It’s not like the blooms are black or anything… yet.


But this lilac (Syringa vulgaris ‘White Angel’) doesn’t look at all happy with the cold. I’m not expecting it to bloom wildly this year. It is a white variety and has never been what I would call a “big bloomer” anyway. (By the way, that white cloth covered area behind it is NOT my attempt to protect the peas and lettuce and all from cold, it is an attempt to protect them from the bunnies.)

And here are some perennial daisies of some kind. Once things warm up again next week, I’ll need to trim these up a bit along with other perennials nipped by the cold , and they’ll come out of it all right.
This has happened before. Based on my gardening journal, we had similar weather in 2002. I don’t think it got quite as warm in late March that year, so plants weren’t quite as far along, but it got very cold in early April, and we had a frost on May 19, 2002. That last frost in May wiped out my tomatoes and peppers and I had to go and re-buy all new. Now I always wait until after May 19th to plant the vegetable garden, even though our frost free date is listed as May 10th.

In 2005, on both May 2nd and May 3rd, temperatures dipped below freezing in the early morning. I remember when that happened, too. I should, it was just two years ago. We weren’t without flowers and leaves and butterflies and bees that summer, so everything and everyone pulled through.

And finally, my grandmother wrote in her diary that they had frost on May 25, 1925 in Indianapolis. Now THAT would be bad.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: flowers, weather

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Unknown says

    April 6, 2007 at 2:34 am

    That would make sense, as I think that 2001/2002 winter was our last main El Nino year. I wonder if we will be able to draw more parellels between the spring and summer of ’02 and those season this year?

    Reply
  2. Carol Michel says

    April 6, 2007 at 2:45 am

    Blackswamp Girl… Good idea to look at the rest of ’02 to see what “might” happen, if ’02 and ’07 are both El Nino years! See! It is good to have a garden journal!

    Reply
  3. Whyite says

    April 6, 2007 at 3:08 am

    Just when you think we come out of the cold. Nope! Nature surprises us.

    Reply
  4. Annie in Austin says

    April 6, 2007 at 4:05 am

    Wow – magnolias are always chancy but Lilacs!! And Crab apples!! They’re usual too cautious to be hit by late freezes. I’m so sorry Carol, and hope the damage is superficial.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    Reply
  5. Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen says

    April 6, 2007 at 8:44 am

    I’m sorry to read about the damage the frost has done to your garden. Tulips can stand a bit of frost, so not to worry about them.

    In the Netherlands nightfrost can happen as late as the end of May but as a rule we are nightfrost free around the 20th of May. Hopefully most of your garden will recover from the shock and you too!

    Reply
  6. Carol Michel says

    April 6, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    Curtis… Thanks for the comment. I don’t know how people even make a living trying to predict what nature will do.

    Annie… We had a lot of warm days before this week! I think many trees and shrubs were about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

    Yolanda Elizabet… This has been an out and out freeeeze, which is why there is so much damage, and we are expecting nightly freezes through Sunday!

    Thanks all for the comments and sympathy.

    Reply
  7. Jenn says

    April 6, 2007 at 3:17 pm

    I am SO happy that my stellata has been holding in bud.

    We must be two or three weeks behind you in season, all that is getting blasted right now in my garden is the daffs, who look really sad – much like your magnolia.

    Reply
  8. kate says

    April 6, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    Carol, I was sorry to see the frost damage … and thank goodness you were able to enjoy your Magnolia in bloom for a spell.

    I am quite amazed by your pastel-coloured tulips. At least you didn’t get vivid yellows popping up along the orange and purple…

    Reply
  9. Jane O' says

    April 6, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    Here in Michigan we’re cold and snowy, and getting a wintery blast tonight. What a let down after the 75-80 degrees weather of last week. I picked a big bunch of daffodils on Tuesday. Good thing I did, they don’t look too good. But you can’t slow down the seasons, and soon we’ll all be complaining of the heat!!

    Reply
  10. Nan says

    April 6, 2007 at 8:33 pm

    Ha, ha, frost on May 25 is not that unusual here. I remember a neighbor getting hit on June 2 one year. I think it might depend on the full moon.

    Reply
  11. Anonymous says

    April 7, 2007 at 4:19 pm

    I think that they have loosely correlated El Nino years with fewer tropical storms/hurricanes in the Atlantic – I always like to hear that…however, like you, I’m dreaded tonight – they’re predicting lows in the upper 20s, and EVERYTHING is exploding right now! I fear that I might have some ‘before’ and ‘after’ images to post soon! I hope that your garden will warm up soon – your tulips look great (I love the ‘lone’ ones – they’re kinda sweet).

    Reply
  12. Gotta Garden says

    April 8, 2007 at 6:59 pm

    Aren’t garden journals great! See, now don’t you feel better? Our first frost free date is around mid-May…Mother’s Day is usually the marker.

    Hope everything recovers well, especially the lilac…

    Reply
  13. Carol Michel says

    April 8, 2007 at 11:29 pm

    Everyone, thanks for the comments and “sympathies”. I hope that we all don’t have too many ‘before and after’ pictures to post. This spring will be one we won’t soon forget. My nephew said it was “winter’s revenge” for having lost time in December when we had all that “spring-like” weather!

    Reply
  14. lisa says

    April 11, 2007 at 2:23 pm

    Mother’s Day is our usual “frost safe” date, too…boy that magnolia sure is nice! I have a real puny yellow bloomer that’s been growing like a turtle…I think I’ll dig/pot it up to be a bonsai specimen and get a star magnolia instead! I’m told they bloom younger than most, too.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,048)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT