Hail - and not so Hardy

Hello Readers,

     From what I have learned in my two-year stint in Portland, summers are usually hot, sunny and dry. As you can tell from previous posts, June was strangely dominated by rainy weather, clearing up for a few precious days towards the end. In total, more than half of June was overcast, at the very least. While I have a few friends that enjoyed avoiding the summer heat, photosynthesis is hard to accomplish with clouds in the sky. So, when a freak hail storm came in the midst of the already poor summer, it had a 'salt on the wound' effect. I watched from my dorm window as thick pellets of ice carpeted the ground, creating a white film on the ground several inches thick. Most of the garden's plants survived, but with different types of damage to their leaves. The species hit the hardest were those close to the ground, with broad, fleshy leaves. Examples include swiss chard, lettuce, and squash. While the squash were young and immediately grew new leaves, the swiss chard are still recovering. The hail punched many holes in this type of leaf, sometime leaving only tattered remains. Strawberries can be included in this category, but only marginally. Strawberry leaves seem more hardy and resilient to puncture, although some showed signs of puncture. Next on the list is a much more poorly defined category, including peas, corn, and blueberries. These plants showed white, scarring patterns on their leaves. Worst hit were the peas and the corn, with the blueberries being only marginally affected. Although I can't say authoritatively, 'scarred' leaves seem to perform more poorly than their healthy counterparts, resulting in an overall stress on the plant. Some of the worst affected plants, such as swiss chard, had both types of damage. Most other plants seem to have no visible damage (although the chill resulting from the layer of hail could have been damaging). Plants in this category include chives, onions, broccoli, broccolini, blackberries, potatoes (protected by the hay), mint, tomatoes, kale, basil, and peppers.