Ice, Ice Baby

When the short day is brightest, / with frost and fire, / The brief sun flames the ice, / on pond and ditches, / In windless cold that is the heart's heat.     

T.S. Eliot

Every so often the weather patterns in our generally mild Pacific Northwest climate line up oh so perfectly to collide warm, moisture laden air off the ocean with super chilled air coming from the great north country. The results are often a mess, especially on the roads as they turn into an ice skating rink. We had one of those systems roll through this week. Just to the north it looked like they got snow, but down here just to the south of that cold air line we got freezing rain, thick accumulations of it coating everything. 

Juncus covered in ice on a chilly Febuary morn

Narcissus sheathed in ice

Iris reticulata with an icy blanket against the february cold

I showed the treachery of the South Salem hills in my last post with our snow storm. This is double the danger.

Some years ago I removed the two huge cottonwood trees where my rock garden is now, that was one of the best decisions I ever made because I don't have much to worry about when the ice starts to fall. Often though the woods surrounding the nursery sound like a war zone as branches break off the trees from the weight of the ice. 

Crocus angustifolius Adding it's warmth to the greenhouse despite the weather

The original forecast for this storm called for some of the lowest temperatures we have seen in years. So I went ahead and built an insulated cold frame inside the greenhouse for the South Africans and more tender species. This box with the retractable insulated roof sits on a sand filled bed with heating cables. I've found this is a great setup to provide just enough frost protection for the level of tenderness I like to propagate.  This system isn't supposed to last too long and it should be thawed out after the weekend, then it will be time to take stock and do some pruning of the shrubs and trees that have lost branches from the weight of the ice.  Cheers,  Mark