Bud Break

The first vines to spring to life are the Shiraz and Baco Noir, both of which pushed their first buds on March 26. Last year it was the Viognier and the Baco that pushed their buds first, a full week earlier.

It has been a nasty start to the growing season. Multiple late freezes picked off the fruit bloom one type of fruit at a time:

• First it was the pears, hit by sub-twenties freezing during the last stages of bloom. Not only did I lose any hope of fruit, but the trees themselves are damaged, sporting clumps of dead blossoms and blackened leaves.
• The peaches and nectarines suffered two freezes, the first in early bloom which did plenty of damage, the in late bloom when another freeze got the secondary blossoms. Unlike the pears, these trees show no obvious freeze damage.
• The redbuds got it, as did several of the flowering cherries, and the wisteria blooms hang colorless on their vines.
• The flower beds are a mess, with damage to the azaleas, saucer magnolias and roses.

The apples and the grapes, however, have come through with what appears to be only minor damage. The apples started blooming this past weekend in concert with the grapes' first signs of life, and the dogwoods are lighting up the woods around me.

It has been a painful journey to what I hope is the end of a tough winter.