How exciting. I've had a few of those "early" ones before and some people say cut the scape off to put more energy back into the roots. I have to admit I've been a baad girl, and let the scape bloom anyway. Never seemed to hurt the plant and yours looks vigorous enough to support blooms already. Nice fat bud too. What's the color going to be?........... Sorry about those winds causing damage. They were hideous here too - a couple of them came through........ A long way to Easter this year, so I'm crossing my fingers no more hard freezes come in late (what a late Easter often means).........Maryl

Always the first scape sighting is exciting. Hope you get some help to clean up the tree branch. We too have had more than our share of high winds and warnings of fires risks so far this year. We are watching a tree that is caught on another tree which should land on the front lawn and not damage any other plants or trees. No freezes in the forecast so far.

Looking foward to seeing your garden pics this year.

Julia

Maryl, the cross is Casco Bay Delight x Joe the Plumber. And, like you, I am going to let it play out to see the color at least. I am not sure what the 28 degree temp one night might have done to the buds but as you can see, the foliage did not blink!

Julia, I am just glad it was only a limb! We had wind gusts reported of over 90 mph during the tornadic activity around us. We have two dead pine trees in the thicket behind our house which would graze our house coming down. They will be cut when it becomes dry enough for machinery to get in there along with a rather large oak that is too close to the house for my comfort zone!

Congratulations on a first scape! It is indeed such a joy when scapes begin to show. It doesn't matter if it is a holdover or a spring scape, it counts and brightens your day, especially with a branch down.

I am glad the limb is still attached and not crushing your plants. The high winds have been awful this year, I agree with Julia on that.

kay

Hooray for the first scape on the forum!

Debra

Hey Kate, I am happy to see my little trooper showing off in Mississippi! That seedling was one of my best in terms of plant habits and is super hardy/tough. It always had the prettiest foliage. After living in New Hampshire for the last 4 years, the cold doesn't faze it....LOL. Should I keep it's color a secret and let you find out for yourself? I hope the first blooms aren't distorted from blooming prematurely because the bloom form was quite pretty. I didn't send you any dogs.....haha

Greetings Celeste! Good to “see” you!! I am afraid the bloom might be distorted. The scape is quite short and, as I said, we had two days of freezing temps. So yes, you can provide the expected color!! As you can see, the foliage is quite healthy! I am looking forward to seeing all the blooms!!

Kate, I wish I had saved photos from all those seedlings I sent you. It is a round form with slightly ruffled edges, mauve/lavender in color. My hunch is that if the bloom ever opens it won't be representative of what it really looks like. It will look a lot nicer when it blooms at the correct time, the little rebel.

Actually, Kate, it would be neat for someone else to have the first bloom. I think one of Nancy's pretties in the greenhouse bloomed first last year. IOt wwould be neat to have it so we never knew who would have the first one. I am just pretty much south of everyone else which is why they bloom so fast. I am even half a state south of you and miss the snow almost all the time which is why even an inch is exciting here.on the very rare occasions we get any.

kay