In the middle of what I usually refer to as the quiet season in the rose garden, we were overwhelmed with a big surprise here in Connecticut this year…our first October blizzard! The folks down by Long Island Sound made out pretty well with just a couple of inches. However, the rest of us, from mid-state to the Massachusetts state line and from the east to west borders got hammered. Here in Windsor (just north of Hartford), it started to snow on Saturday afternoon, October 29. The precipitation was very wet and heavy and within a short time we were covered with a blanket of white.

Blizzard Wonderland

Here in Connecticut we are very used to snow; we see it every year. However, several factors were in place that made this blizzard a major disaster. The first was the fact that we have had an inordinate amount of rain this year and the ground was super-saturated. We had just had tropical storm Irene eight weeks ago. It blew through and rocked all the trees and roses with 60+ mile an hour winds.

Next, most of the leaves were still on the trees. This gave this heavy, wet snow an opportunity to stick to the canopy. As 6-12 inches piled onto the foliage and branches, the weight was just too much. The trees began to break and fall over. Huge branches snapped and fell like open umbrellas to the ground. Branches also fell on to electrical wires all over the state. They plunged almost a million CT Light and Power customers into darkness.

Our power went out on Saturday night. We listened to the trees grumbling outside…creaks, loud cracks like gunshot, and heavy thuds as the timber hit the ground. Wednesday night the following week our power was restored, but our phone and other utilities didn’t return till the following Saturday night. Hurray for a blizzard!

Garden Disasters

No trees fell on my rose gardens, but this time of year my bushes are over six feet tall. The heavy snow crushed them to the ground, and some of the canes snapped under the weight. Normally, I don’t begin to cut back my roses until after Thanksgiving, but at this point I decided now was the time to begin. People always ask me why I prune before winter, and this storm is precisely why: to keep the canes from snapping under the weight of ice and snow.

We are still having some warm-ish weather, but the sun is very low in the sky now and available daylight has substantially diminished. I am cutting back to unsnapped healthy wood and stripping off all the remaining leaves which will force my roses into dormancy.

I hope your Fall weather has been better than ours! We will survive, though, and so will our roses!! Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to all of you.