The Perennial Post

Loss and Recovery

by Wendy Lagozzino

I asked gardeners in Seattle and the Kitsap Peninsula what survived and what didn’t after the cold, rain and wind of last winter. Some people lost plants completely while others had the same plants survive, such as Tetrapanax,  Elegia capensis and cannas in pots and the ground.
Although it’s too early to know the final casualties, here are some of your findings.  

Dead:

Abutilon, hybrids, variegated varieties
Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’
Agapanthus (in a pot)
Aloysia triphylla
Begonia sutherlandii
Buddleia macrostacya
Chondropetalum tectorum
Clianthus puniceus
Coprosma ‘Copper Sheen’, C. ‘Rainbow’, C. x kirkii
Echium wildpretii, E. fastuosum, E. bipinnana
Eleagnus x ebbingei ‘Gilt Edge’
Erythrina crus-galli
Eucalyptus nichollii
Geranium palmatum
Cordyline, green-leaved
Grevillea ‘Ruby Clusters’
Hebe ‘Mrs. Winder’
Hydrangea arborea
Leptospermum
Nothopanax lessonii ‘Gold Splash’
Pelargoniums
Prostanthera
Solanum jasmenoides ‘Album’
Trachelium caeruleum

Heavily Damaged:

Abutilon ‘Nabob’
Aloysia triphylla
Beschorneria spp.
Clianthus puniceus
Correa alba and C. pulchella
Cortaderia
Disporum cantoniense
Dyckia hybrids and cultivars
Grevillea ‘Canberra Gem’
Hebe ‘Amy’
Lysimachia nummularia
Melianthus major ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Antonows Blue’
Musa basjoo
Musa sikkimensis
Phormium
Prostanthera
Pseudopanax lessonii ‘Gold Splash’
Teucrium fruticans
Thamnochortus giganteus

Light or No Damage:

Acacia mucronata, A. pravissima, A. baileyana ‘Purpurea’
Anemanthele lessoniana
Chondropetalum tectorum
Cyathea cooperii, C. smithii, C. dealbata, C. medularis
Dicksonia antarctica, D. squarrosa, D. fibrosa
Eccremocarpus scaber
Fasicularia bicolor and F. pitcarinifolia
Fuchsias, hardy
Grevillea victoriae
Lapageria rosea
Lobelia tupa—unprotected, no damage
Loropetalum ‘Razzleberri’
Lysimachia nummularia in the ground
Meyer lemon citrus tree
Pomegranate
Prostanthera
Pseudopanax crassifolius and P. ferox
Raphithamnus spinosus
Schefflera, collected at a high elevation
Watsonia pillansii
Weinmannia trichocalyx

 As of early May, that is the state of the great gardens of the Pacific Northwest. Now it’s off to the nurseries to replace some of the losses!