Fruit of the Ice Storm of '09

Some of you may recall that we had a pretty incredible ice storm last winter.  We are told that even though our power crews continue to work 12-hour shifts that the Kennett power grid is at about 75% of its previous capacity.  Incredibly, good planning and conservative management over the years had built up enough of an emergency reserve fund that we are not facing a utility rate surcharge to pay for the rebuild.  Our citizens continue to be indebted to the hard work of our city-owned utility company.

Still, it's an ill wind that blows nobody good.  Our Euonymus bushes were so loaded that the ice pulled them over.  We staked them back up, but one just didn't make it.  We planted a little replacement, but it's still the ugly duckling, being about a tenth the size of its mates.  It's got a new companion, though.

We've lived in the ancestral manse since 1979.  Built by my great-grandmother, Panola Mississippi Rayburn Donaldson, in 1909, it was occupied before us by my great-aunt Madge Donaldson.  She was the gardener supreme and HER yard was always a showplace.  As soon as something quit blooming, it was dug up and replaced with something else.  There were many beds and it was really something to see.  She used to keep two boys busy moving water hoses, digging and fertilizing, and she did the same, on up into her eighties.

Our gardening is much less ambitious.  Mrs. Mobley has done a lot, but we don't spend the time and effort Aunt Madge did (she was retired).  We still enjoy her daffodils, tulips and "surprise lilies".

This one really surprised us, though.  We've never seen it's like in the thirty years we've been here.  I guess it needed more sun than it was getting.  With the Euonymus gone and the big pine trees stripped by the storm, the dormant bulb sprang forth this week.  It's not exactly compensation for the lost trees and cold nights, but it's pretty neat.

Comments

[Teri and the cats of Furrydance]

Nice surprise, and nice to learn about the history of your home. Thanks for the journey.

[PlantingOaks]

It looks like a canna.

I'm not sure where you are exactly, but canna's aren't normally hardy anywhere with 'winter' in their vocabulary. They're one of those 'dig 'em up in the fall, keep them in the basement and replant them in the spring' type plants for most people.

My guess is that it was buried particularly deeply and next to the foundation which allowed it to survive, but maybe digging out the bush moved it closer to the surface, so it grew.

My point in sharing all this is that if you want it back next year, you should probably dig it up and store it.

[Dog Car Seat]

I'm in LA - no ice storms here. But originally from the mid west so I know how beautiful they can be.

[Janet]

That's great! To quote Ian in "Jurassic Park"-"Life will find a way". I love surprises in the garden-as long as it's not a weed or a snake. ;-)

[Doc]

"God, I hate being right all the time."

ibid