Thanks Yan. I am thinking that I need to protect my TP in the winter and spring, not so much to keep them alive but to protect the newly bursting leaves and buds. Like yours, they get blasted and while it doesn't seem to kill the plant, it seriously sets them back and prohibits blooms. My little TP is really sprouting after a less than great start last year and this, so I will protect it well this fall. I think I will dig a little trench around the base out about 12-14" and sink a wire 'fence' to keep out the mice although I hear they tunnel through the snow not the dirt, so many the fencing should go around the plant and over the top. Yup. That sounds about right. Little ^&%$&^%* tunneled in several years ago and made happy homes in the burlap cages of my two lovely trees and dined on them all winter. Still a little bitter about that. They never came back. Just that one year. Well, we have them but I am really assiduous about setting traps and a neighbor moved in with two cats which I welcome in my yard for obvious reasons.
