Uncomfortably warm

We had record high temperatures last weekend, up to 74 degrees at Logan Airport on Sunday, the warmest January temperature ever recorded in Boston. For us humans, it was a pleasant break from winter cold. Scientists in town for the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting linked the freakish weather to the trend toward global warming.

    After my friend Amy noticed that some blue vinca flowers (Vinca minor) had opened, I checked and found some in my front yard too. 

Vinca flower looking peaked after Friday's cold

My Asian witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis) is in full bloom in the backyard. The danger is that these early bloomers started up their spring metabolism too soon, and they’ll suffer for it. By Friday, we were back to a windchill of 5°F.

So far the witch hazel flowers are holding up

    I’m hoping that despite the White House’s attempts to deny what everyone else knows, we’re finally squaring up to serious action to address global warming. Meanwhile, though, we’re warned that even if we immediately reduced carbon pollution radically, we’d still have to expect climate effects that have already been set in motion.

    In the garden, I’m afraid this doesn’t mean I’ll be picking mangoes and pineapples. 

We could end up with waterfront property due to sea level rise, but the palm trees are unlikely

Instead, I’m expecting more winter warm spells alternating with vicious cold without snow cover. That’s already been happening in recent winters, and it’s especially hard on my shrubs and vines.

    I particularly notice the effects of uneven winter temperatures on a climbing rose that grows near the house on the garage and an adjacent pergola over the garden gate. 

    When I started the garden thirty years ago, I planted Rose ‘New Dawn,’ in this spot. I learned later that some garden designers regarded ‘New Dawn’ as a boring cliché, but to me it was the epitome of rose charm. I pictured a romantic cloud of blush pink roses spilling over the gateway. 

'New Dawn' is my idea of a romantic climber

After a few years, that did happen—sometimes. A winter warm spell followed by a cold snap could kill back even this tough survivor.

Rose canes exposed to chilling winds. Cross-vine leaves are still clinging on in January.

    At first the vine bounced back, quickly sending up new canes to replace killed ones. In the last couple of years, it seems to be struggling just to survive, and flowering has been sparse. ‘New Dawn’ is rated as hardy to Zone 5, meaning that it can bear the cold down to -20 F, lower than what we get in this area. I think it’s the cold, drying wind when there’s no insulating snow that’s depleting the vine’s reserves as the assault is repeated year after year. It’s got only so much stored energy for repairs.

    To help ‘New Dawn’ and my other favorites survive the new climate reality, I’m resolving to surround their bases with some compost and composted cow manure next spring to help them store up energy during the warm season. To me, shrubs wrapped in burlap through the winter are an eyesore. 

Poor thing!

But I might break down next fall and pile up some leaves or soil around shrub and vine crowns for a little extra insulation. As I post this, there's snow on the ground again, thank goodness!