Thursday, June 4, 2015

Hail Plop

The damage is done. The garden will grow on. From a distance it is still lush and green.





















The remnants of the hail plop that were washed through the culvert under my driveway were still melting this morning. It was piles like this that were stopping traffic yesterday evening and sending snow plows out in June.





















The garden looks like it was hit by an explosion of flying glass. Shredded is the best description.





















Bruised and scratched works too.





















Hosta and hail do not mix.





















Some fared significantly worse than others. Tree cover and leaf quality are contributing factors.





















The hosta are shredded for the rest of the year. They will not grow new leaves or repair the damage. We will just have to live with it and let them photosynthesize and store food with what they have left. To remove the mess would weaken the plants.





















The Shredded Umbrella Leaf looks completely unscathed. It must pay to come pre-shredded. I will say pinnately compound leaves seemed to have fared better than simple leaves.





















This is the big bold foliage of the mighty jungle after an elephant passes through.





















Iris really is not supposed to have this fine textural detailing. It does now.



























I look at all the broken tops and wonder, will the Tall Flower Meadow have an extra abundant bloom this year because that other gardener decided to pinch out the tops and force them to branch. It is certainly early enough in the season for that to happen. It could turn out to be quite spectacular.





















How the Kousa Dogwood managed to remain  near perfect is a mystery.





















The garden will grow on.





















The gardener will keep pedaling.


7 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh my, your poor hostas. I remember one time when this happened to my hostas. They didn't recover until the following year. I hope yours does better. Gardening is a gamble.

Christopher C. NC said...

Lisa all the hosta will be just fine - next year.

Lola said...

Oh dear, I do hope all will be ok.

Christopher C. NC said...

All will be well Lola. We will just have a lot of shredded hosta to look at this year.

Sallysmom said...

I saw on the weather channel that in one place in Colorado they had knee high hail.

Christopher C. NC said...

Sallysmom, knee high hail and I would just cancel this gardening season.

C. C. said...

The hostas would break my heart. My garden is filled with many varieties. I loved my old Italian Spinone, but the only good thing about his death last October is that his 98-lb self is no longer tromping through and smushing my beloved hostas, many of which are decades old. But I appreciate your statement re: "next year." I say that every year about every spot in my garden. Hope.