I've enjoyed a beautiful heavenly bamboo for many years. I kept freeing it from the snow snow this winter but alas, it has no leaves and all the small side branches have broken off. There are 5-6 tall main stems that are bluish at the top. I have been hoping it would recover when the weather warms up but it looks pretty serious. Any suggestions re a prognosis? Thanks.
Since this is an established plant that has survived other winters, I'd say there is a good chance it will send out new growth, from the base or from whatever part of the main stem remains healthy. This is discouraging, though. I miss having nandina since moving to Maine, and in my wilder garden fantasies I imagine trying to overwinter a clump in a sheltered spot somewhere. Ah well.
Several dead nandinas here also. It simply got too cold for them this year. I have also seen losses in prior cold winters, on other local sites. Perhaps the cool summers and/or cool soils here do not allow these to ripen their stem growth as well as in hotter areas. Snow protects plants from cold so where concerned about the hardiness of a specimen do not remove the snow. In fact, there might be a case for piling additional snow on. I once read that rhododendrons native to heavy snowfall portions of the Sino-Himalayan region may freeze back under much higher air temperatures in cultivation here than would be regularly experienced in the wild. The critical factor was said to be the lack of deep snow completely covering the shrubs in our climate.
A small Nandina grove ('Moyers Red')that I tend in S.NJ looks ravaged by the winter wind and low temps. In my experience they come back very well and look completely rejuvenated by Summer.
