Misses

I lost quite a few plants this winter. Lots of people in the area did, apparently --two extended cold periods without any snow, and we went into winter in a drought. Even though it has rained this spring, we are still in a "moderate drought" according to the US Drought Monitor.

Plants lost:

Chamaecyparis "Soft Serve". This was just a quart size when I planted it in Spring 2024, but it grew and looked good through the summer. But I think I just have to give up on evergreens in the areas where I garden --we are very much on the prairie and cold weather comes with strong NW winds. Now I realize that there are sprays you can use, and I should have wrapped it in burlap. But as expensive as evergreen pieces are, I likely won't try again.

Stonecrop Sedum "Blue Spruce". I can't even believe I lost a sedum in a hot sunny location that I was watering, but it just disappeared by the end of the summer.

Hoary Vervain. I love this prairie plant, and planted six 3" pots. Not one of them survived. I will try again with this because I like it so much. 

Canadian Anemone. I planted two of these, bare root, and I've never had much luck with bare root plants. They never showed up this spring. 

Little Bluestem. I planted 3 3" pots in an area near a silver maple. I struggle to grow things here, and I'm hoping that the deep roots might help them compete with the shallow maple roots. One of them didn't return, the other two are tiny, but alive. 

I guess I'm lucky in that everything I lost was something I planted last summer. I didn't lose any established plants. Hopefully the ones that returned from last summer's planting will be established enough to deal with a harsh winter now.