well i was worried about losing alot of my plantings due to these temps. thankfully some were damaged. only 1 killed to the ground. lost goumi except 1 tiny branch about a ft. off the ground. nelson blackberries are still trying to push growth on partially damaged canes. the ones that have are also fruiting so a smaller harvest but still going to get fruit. Riverview mulberry is still pushing growth but very slow. minor damage. tips of highbush blue berries got froze but not too bad. Northrop mulberry is trying to push growth but has bark splitting around the south side of the tree despite me whitewashing it. besides that everything else survived the z3 cold we had last winter unscathed. how did you other northern growers fare?
You gotta love them test years.
We had several days of sub zero temperatures and howling winds that knocked out power lines. It did not get that cold but when the wind is blowing that hard at -10F it can be a tad harsh. Lost a young Evans cherry, baby Redfield apple had about half of the branches winter killed, lost the top of a young Northstar cherry, the valiant grape came back strong but from the trunk, and the king of the North grape half ass attempted to put out a bud but “it’s dead Jim”.
Sounds bad but the overwhelming majority of stuff came back as if nothing happened.
it was real windy last winter also so it made it even worse. thank God we had a lot of snow or it would have been much worse.
It was a warmer winter here last winter. I think we had some days that were around -9 but that is nothing for what is supposed to be 5b. No snow until late December too.
We only hit -33 last winter. Plenty of wind though, like most every other day here.
I was in the same boat as smsmith as far as temps. Not really any casualties here but I was a bit perplexed that one of my gooseberries, either Poorman’s or Jahns Prairie I’ll have to check, didn’t set any fruit at all despite all the others around it setting a good crop this spring. The plant is healthy and putting on lots of new growth just no fruit this year.
I believe I lost a large number of fruit buds on apple trees to the combo of last year’s severe drought and to plenty of -28+ temps (and wind). My trees were loaded with fruit buds going into spring, many of those buds did nothing. Now, they are putting on leaves. I am hopeful we get decent rain this year.
So far we are off to a good start with regards to moisture. Can’t say I’m looking forward to the hot temps coming this weekend.