|
Que Serra,
Serra
Plants
(What
ever will be, will be) |
|
Yup, (that’s western for yes)
it looks like we’re headed for a normal spring.
That statement, of course, means nothing, because
normal spring weather in Wyobraska is wildly
variable. March has been unusually mild—due, some
say, to man-made global warming, or due, others say,
to not unusual swings in planetary weather and
climate cycles. So I have been doing what most
Wyobraskans have been doing for the past three
weeks—enjoying the wildly warm early spring
weather. But almost every conversation among
Wyobraskans about our warm March weather seems to
also include some expression of concern about how
the early warm weather will bring trees and shrubs
out of winter dormancy too early.
 |
|
Que serra serra plants fall
into two main categories—those that come out of
dormancy early, but whose early spring foliage can
handle at least the cold of a two-dog
night—somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees by my
reckoning. This group of plants includes Spring
Snow crabapple, feather reed grass, many shrub roses
(that’s right roses), viburnums, and most
perennials. Most of these plants are already in
various stages of beginning their seasonal growth
after the past two weeks of warm weather. But
there’s no reason for alarm, because even a 15
degree night is unlikely to do anything more than
cause the new leaves of these plants to look a
little wilted for a few days. In colder
temperatures some new foliage may even be damaged,
but most of these plants are such vigorous and
well-adapted plants that they will quickly recover
when warmer weather returns.
|
|
Previous Articles
Fractions March 15
Yardner March 8
Urban
Legends of Trees March 22
2006 Articles |
|
The warm weather has coaxed a
number of tree and shrub species into the early
stages of leaf formation, and I have spotted a few
flowering trees that are already blooming. In years
gone by, I would find this circumstance rather
disheartening, and the lament would go something
like this, “Oh, woe is me. We’ve worked so hard to
get trees and shrubs to grow here and now this
unusual weather could ruin all of our hard work.”
But I gave up on that refrain a
few years ago, and now my springtime song is, “Que
serra, serra.” For anyone too young to remember
Doris Day, that means, “whatever will be, will be.”
It’s an attitude that makes a Wyobraska spring a
much more pleasant season. It’s not that I’ve
experienced some sort of mid-life (that’s right,
mid-life) revelation. Instead, my less anxious view
of Wyobraska’s springtime weather has everything to
do with my discovery in recent years that there are
a lot of great landscape plants with a similar “Que
serra, serra” attitude toward our warm one day,
freezing the next day, springtime weather. In fact,
I’ve come to view Wyobraska’s springtime weather in
much the same way that Minnesotans view their
wintertime weather—it keeps the riff-raff out.
 |
|
The other category of que serra,
serra plants are those that sleep later than an
unemployed teenager. These plants don’t come out of
dormancy in a prolonged early spring warm spell
because they’re still sound asleep. Most evergreen
trees and shrubs fall into this category, as do the
warm season ornamental grasses like hardy pampas
grass, miscanthus, and little bluestem. Most of
the “hardy” shade trees are late sleepers, like bur
oak, Kentucky coffeetree, and catalpa. It’s unusual
to see leaves on these trees until late April,
regardless of the weather—and in a “cold” spring,
they may wait until late May—they’re never in a
hurry. One late sleeping perennial that’s a real
“sleeper” is hardy hibiscus. These distant
relatives of the hollyhock often don’t peak out of
the ground until early June. Their spectacular late
summer flowers will make the worst springtime
weather seem a distant memory.
And last, but certainly not
least, there are a growing number of annual flowers
that are also singing that old Doris Day tune.
Pansies, dianthus, snapdragons,
nemesia, verbena, osteospermam (a daisy-like
flower), and most of the ornamental grasses that are
now being used in containers are all able to
tolerate varying degrees of frosty mornings. So if
it’s not snowing outside this weekend, planting up a
few early season containers of annuals is not nearly
as crazy as it might seem. Pansies, dianthus, and
snapdragons can all be planted outside in beds at
this point with virtually no risk of damage from
freezing springtime temperatures. And if the other
frost tolerant annuals are planted in containers
they can be easily be moved indoors when nighttime
temperatures are forecast to get too cold. It’s a
“que serra, serra” way of getting a real head start
on the gardening season.
|