Spring brings both excitement and assessment as we uncover our garden features and take stock of what survived winter's challenges. Recently, we tackled three essential spring tasks: uncovering and starting our garden fountains, planting our decorative urns, and evaluating which plants didn't make it through winter. Join us for an honest look at spring's triumphs and losses in our Zone 6A garden in upstate New York.

Reviving Garden Fountains: Bringing Water Features Back to Life

Water features add immeasurable value to the garden experience, providing soothing sounds, visual interest, and a cooling effect during summer heat. We have two fountains in our garden that require spring preparation: the Borghese fountain in our hydrangea room and the larger Caterina fountain on our terrace.

The Borghese Fountain: A Simple Restart

Our Borghese fountain, installed earlier this season during cooler weather, required minimal effort to restart:

1. We removed the protective plastic garbage bag that prevented water collection during freezing weather
2. Ensured the pump and connectors were properly positioned
3. Filled the basin with water
4. Connected the power to enjoy the gentle trickle sound

This smaller fountain creates a delightful ambiance in our hydrangea room, where it's surrounded by emerging Jacob's Ladder and spring bulbs. Its gentle water sound makes it the perfect accompaniment for quiet moments on the nearby bench.

Pro tip: When choosing a fountain, consider both the visual element and the sound it produces. The Borghese has low splashing action, creating a more subtle trickling sound perfect for intimate garden spaces.

The Caterina Fountain: A More Involved Process

Our larger Caterina fountain, a more substantial installation weighing approximately 800 pounds, required additional attention after winter:

1. We removed the specialized fountain cover designed to protect it from freeze-thaw cycles
2. Cleaned each component to remove algae and debris that accumulated before winter
3. Carefully reassembled the multi-piece fountain, checking for proper alignment
4. Used clear plastic shims to achieve level positioning (a crucial step for proper water flow)
5. Filled with water and tested the pump

This impressive fountain creates a focal point on our terrace, where it's underplanted with Walker's Low catmint—a perfect combination as the catmint will grow to soften the base while tolerating the splashing water.

Fountain maintenance tip: For fountains in full sun, regular water replenishment and a tiny drop of algaecide (in fountains without fish or wildlife) helps maintain clear water throughout the season.

Setting Up Automated Fountain Control

To enhance convenience, we've installed a Kasa double-switch wireless timer that allows us to program both fountains through an app. This smart technology means we can:

• Set specific on/off times for each fountain
• Control them remotely when away from home
• Conserve electricity by running them only when we're likely to enjoy them

The electrical components are housed in a waterproof box with protective covers, and the cords will be buried for safety and aesthetics.

Spring Container Planting: Pascal Urns

With our fountains operational, we turned our attention to planting our Pascal urns with a stunning combination for spring interest.

Creating a Spectacular Spring Container

For our Pascal urns, we selected a show-stopping centerpiece: Cascade Green Fairy Trail hydrangeas. These special hydrangeas:

• Were successfully overwintered in our garage
• Are already showing significant new growth
• Bloom on old wood, with flower buds formed last season
• Are among the earliest hydrangeas to bloom
• Produce chartreuse-green flowers that fade to white

Around the hydrangeas, we planted alternating purple and pink pansies to complement our garden's pink and purple theme for this year's annuals. The combination provides immediate color while the hydrangea prepares to bloom.

Overwintering tip: Protecting plants like these hydrangeas through winter preserves their flower buds, allowing for earlier and more abundant flowering than newly purchased plants would provide.

Adding an Edible Element

To add an unexpected element to our ornamental containers, we incorporated butter crunch lettuce plants. This edible addition:

• Provides beautiful texture contrast with its ruffled leaves
• Offers functionality alongside beauty
• Creates visual interest while the other elements develop
• Can be harvested gradually without disrupting the container design

The complete container design incorporates ornamental, perennial, and edible elements—a reflection of our garden philosophy that beauty and function can coexist harmoniously.

Assessing Winter Losses: The Reality of Gardening

Part of spring's rhythm is evaluating which plants survived winter's challenges. This year, despite temperatures that weren't unusually low for our region, extreme and persistent wind took a significant toll on our garden.

Plants That Didn't Survive

Several plants in our garden didn't make it through winter:

Sweet and Low Sarcococca (Sweet Box):This evergreen shrub showed promising flower buds but ultimately succumbed to winter winds, despite passing the "scratch test" earlier in the season. Its location, exposed to persistent western winds, likely contributed to its demise.

Malvern Hills Rambling Rose:While not completely dead, this rose suffered significant dieback on all exposed canes. New growth is emerging from the base, giving us hope that it will recover, though it will need time to reach its former glory.

Green Screen Arborvitaes:These new introductions, a sport of Green Giant arborvitae, were rated for Zone 5 but didn't survive our winter conditions. After consulting with the nursery (Iseli), we concluded that extreme winter winds likely exceeded their tolerance, despite their supposed hardiness rating.

Overwintered Containers:Several perennials stored in our garage showed mixed results:

• Large salvias and some potted perennials that were difficult to keep adequately watered didn't survive
• Seaside Serenade Glacier Bay hydrangeas lost all their flower buds, though they show basal growth
• Several grasses and other perennials show promising signs of life

Mugo Pine:A small specimen planted last spring that we neglected to water adequately—a clear case of gardener error rather than winter conditions.

Understanding Winter Damage vs. Death

Not all struggling plants are actually dead. We observed:

Sprinter Boxwoods:The bright yellow tips aren't flowers but wind burn damage. These shrubs remain healthy at their core and will recover once pruned.

Tromner Spruce:What appears to be severe damage is actually rabbit browsing that occurred at snow level. New growth is emerging at the base, and the plant will recover with time.

Lessons Learned

Our winter assessment reinforced several important gardening principles:

1. Zone hardiness isn't the whole story: Local conditions like wind exposure can override a plant's theoretical hardiness rating.
2. Winter protection matters: Plants that received adequate protection (like our garage-stored Cascade hydrangeas) fared much better than exposed specimens.
3. Learn from losses: Rather than seeing plant deaths as failures, we view them as opportunities to try something new or select more appropriate plants for challenging locations.
4. Take action on partial damage: Pruning damaged areas on boxwoods and other shrubs helps redirect energy to healthy growth.

Looking Forward: Embracing the New Season

Despite some losses, spring's renewed growth and the successful restart of our water features have us excited for the growing season ahead. The garden is always evolving, and winter's challenges help us refine our plant selections and care strategies.

With our fountains flowing, containers planted, and a clear understanding of what needs replacement, we're ready to embrace all the possibilities that this garden season offers.

What winter assessment have you done in your garden this spring? Have you noticed any patterns in what survives and what struggles in your particular conditions? We'd love to hear about your experiences!

Thanks for growing with us!