Usually, when you want to know your last spring frost, the experts send you to a hardiness zone map, a chart, or even the NOAA records, conceding that this will only give you a ballpark figure. If you really want to know your local last frost date, consult a neighbor–at least until you’ve kept records [...]
This just in from the National Weather Service:
Record April heat has ended…
Many daily and monthly high temperature records were broken from
Saturday April 25th to Monday April 27th across the area.
For the regional Airport daily records were broken for
April 25th and the 27th. On April 25th a record high temperature of
85 degrees was set which breaks [...]
High of 88F, a record, perhaps. Can daffodils suffer heat stroke? Some of mine fell over. I took a look at them shortly before nine in the morning, and they were lovely as only a freshly opened daffodil can be. By the time I got home late afternoon, some were already past their prime, and [...]
Mud season has finally arrived. As I have had more contact with gardeners in other climates, I’ve come to realize that certain aspects of my climate are completely foreign to them, so I thought I’d explain mud season for those who have never encountered it. It will sound pretty elementary to my fellow cold climate [...]
It was a balmy 57F out today, a pleasant change from last week’s snow, so I took a stroll around the garden to see what I could see. I saw the new growth of sedums at soil level, and I saw colchicums emerging from the earth, way too early as usual.I also saw the damage [...]
“Finally, a decent snowfall.” That’s my first reaction as an ornamental gardener, thinking about the dormant plants. Snow is a great insulator and keeps the soil–and the roots of plants–warmer than if that same soil were exposed to the air.
This is one reason why Ellen Hornig of Seneca Hill Perennials can grow many plants from [...]
I think every gardener should know the air temperature where their plants are growing (indoors or out). Most people are aware that it can get too cold for plants, but if you’re not gardening in the South, you may not realize it can get too hot for plants, too. That’s why I put one on [...]
I normally don’t weed my beds in November, because it is too chilly, wet, windy, and perhaps snowy. However, we have been enjoying a string of unseasonably warm days and I was able to take advantage of it today. Weeding grass out of daylily foliage is usually pretty tricky, because the leaves are so similar. [...]
