Author: Bert Cregg

Up, up, and away…

First, let me cue the 5th Dimension.

 

I got a call the other day from the owner of a local hot air balloon company.  They specialize in fall color rides and he wanted to include some info from me about the state of fall color in Michigan this year.  Despite our concerns following this summer’s heat and drought, it turns out this year has been very good for fall color.  I think our color has been a bit more variable than usual with some trees turning early and I’m noticing many maples are dropping pretty leaves quickly once they hit peak.  … Continue reading this article “Up, up, and away…”

When all else fails…

As someone who has had a foot in Horticulture and a foot in Forestry throughout most of my career, people often ask me to compare the two disciplines.  One of the truisms that applies in both cases is, “When all else fails, blame the nursery.”  I’ve seen this following seedling die-offs in industrial forest plantations and I’ve seen it many, many times after street tree or landscape planting failures.  In fact, if you believe some people, tree nurseries are responsible for every plague and pestilence to ever afflict mankind. … Continue reading this article “When all else fails…”

Gone but not forgotten…

Got to spend Friday in the field in northern Michigan visiting growers and seeing some neat stuff: Great fall color, some natural concolor x Fraser fir hybrids and some awesome root systems produced by root pruning.  Unfortunately, like the dog that ate the homework, my camera decided not to part with the images.  I am tracking down replacements and will post an update on Friday.</d

The wackiness continues

It seems like every year we end up talking about ‘weird’ weather; either it’s extreme heat, extreme cold, too much rain, not enough rain, and on and on.  Here in the upper Midwest and other parts of the central US, however, 2012 is clearly a year to remember.  Our winter was fairly unremarkable until we hit 8 days over 75 deg. in mid-March.  This pushed our growing degree days up at least 3 weeks and set the stage for widespread late-freeze damage in April, wiping out the state’s cherry, peach, and plum crops. … Continue reading this article “The wackiness continues”

The new hardiness map’s obsolete! The new hardiness map’s obsolete!

I posted back in January about my excitement about the update of the USDA Hardiness zone map.   While I acknowledged some of the shortcomings of the new map, I was excited because it was a big improvement over the old map, both in terms of content (more recent temperature data included) and presentation (interactive search features, better graphics).

 

Dr. Nir Krakauer, assistant professor of civil engineering in The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, was less impressed, however, and has essentially declared the new hardiness map dead on arrival.  … Continue reading this article “The new hardiness map’s obsolete! The new hardiness map’s obsolete!”

The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.

Ginny Stibolt of the Florida Native Plant Society recently posted Native Plant Issues: The good, the bad and the ugly, featuring me as the ugly.  I posted a reply on her post, which I include here.  To keep things in context, I encourage you to read her post first.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hi Ginny:

Some comments and a few points of clarification.

On the first item, as a Federal agency the USDA is bound by the Executive Order on Invasive Species which defines natives as species that occur in an ecosystem “other than as a result of an introduction”. … Continue reading this article “The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.”

Fearless fall color predictions

Happy Labor Day!   Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable 3-day weekend.  Labor day is the unofficial end of summer, which means fall is just around the corner.  In fact, fall may be a little early this year around these parts.  We are already starting to pick up some fall color – mainly maples, sassafras, and sumac.  I usually get some calls from various media outlets asking for predictions on fall color.  It’s always a dicey proposition.  Weather going into fall is certainly a factor for fall color, but conditions during the fall itself are the final trump card. … Continue reading this article “Fearless fall color predictions”

So, what’s your point?

My recent post on Seattle Public Utilities proposed restriction on the use of non-native plants for landscaping drew the ire of Taryn Evans of the Florida Native Plant Society.  Taryn was critical not only of what I had to say but how I said it.  She felt that my post was ‘clumsy’ and lacked a clear focus.  In my defense, part of the perceived lack of clarity may stem from a lack of context.  I alluded to several previous blog posts (including the references to using goats and schoolchildren to control invasives) but didn’t include the links – which are now listed at the end this post.  … Continue reading this article “So, what’s your point?”

Are natives the answer? Revisited

I started to leave a comment on Linda’s Friday post regarding Seattle Public Utilities proposed building codes regarding “Healthy Landscapes” but decided I’d weigh in with a regular post.  Linda honed in on the 75% native requirement but there are lots of things to make one scratch their heads in the proposed codes.

Existing invasive plant species shall be removed and no invasive species planted.
No mention of how invasive plants shall be removed.  Heavy-duty herbicides?… Continue reading this article “Are natives the answer? Revisited”

It’s Meeting Season

Just flew in from Miami and boy are my arms tired – rim shot.  Seriously, I just returned for the annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) in Miami.  Always good to wander the halls and renew old acquaintances and take in the latest in Hort science.  Judging by the posters and talks here are some of the hot topics at this year’s ASHS meeting.

LED’s
Horticultural applications of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are receiving a lot of attention these days. … Continue reading this article “It’s Meeting Season”