It’s time for our Spring edition of People and Plants. This time we’ll be taking a look at the life and accomplishments of Asa Gray.
Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888), now considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century, had very humble beginnings. He was born in the back of his father’s tannery in Sauquoit, New York, the eldest of eight children. From childhood Asa was an avid reader.… Continue reading this article “People and Plants”
As I write this, about half of the lower 48 United States has passed the median date of the last freeze according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. Here in the Southeast, we are well into the planting season even though our usually early planting for crops like corn was delayed due to very wet soil. The rest of you may have to wait for a few more weeks before you can put any heat-loving plants into the ground.… Continue reading this article “What we expect in the 2024 growing season”
Arborists are trained in seminars and texts that rot in trees is bad. Wood decay can constitute a “hazardous condition” which when accompanied by the tree being in a place that has a target and the tree is large, can create a “hazardous tree”. The notion of hazardous trees is a uniquely human construct that has little to do with the ecology of trees, the variety of organisms that utilizes large declining trees, and does not consider what the various defects in trees may be contributing to the environment or forest around that tree in terms of organism habitat. … Continue reading this article “TreM’s You Say?”
In the last week, I’ve driven all the way from western Virginia, where the redbuds are blooming, to Tallahassee, FL, where red clover is everywhere. As I drove through the mountains north of Charlotte NC, I noticed some signs indicating that strong gap winds may blow down the valleys when atmospheric pressure patterns align to produce strong pressure gradients that drive the wind. I have discussed wind before in previous posts (“Who has seen the wind?… Continue reading this article ““They call the wind Maria””
Wherever whitetail deer occur they present a challenge for gardeners. The internet offers abundant advice on this, but too often it is simplistic gardening myth such as scattering human hair or planting garlic.
Historically in deer control literature there have been occasional observations that deer hesitate to enter an area which looks too small or constrained for rapid escape. Finally, it came time to acknowledge and test this theory.… Continue reading this article “News for gardeners in deer country: one solution to deer problems may simply be smaller gardens”
Continuing with the theme of Underrated Beneficial Arthropods that I brought up in my December post about Underrated Pollinators– I will be focusing on the next category of what I consider the trio of beneficial arthropods (which includes pollinators, natural enemies, and nutrient cyclers).
Natural Enemies
Natural enemies are comprised of predatory and parasitic arthropods, in which one or more life stages of the arthropod feed on other organisms, such as garden pests, thereby killing them.… Continue reading this article “Underrated Beneficial Arthropods Part 2: Natural Enemies”
In the quarter century that I’ve been researching, publishing, and educating on the topic of landscape mulches, one thing has become clear: cardboard should never be used as a mulch. This viewpoint has been of great interest to gardeners; in fact, my earlier post has been the most frequently viewed post since it was published in 2015.… Continue reading this article “Cardboard does not belong on your soil. Period.”
In this blog I’ve talked several times about El Niño and La Niña and how they affect climate across the Northern Hemisphere as well as their impacts on the rest of the world. We are currently in a strong El Niño with sea surface temperatures in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) that are much warmer than the long-term average. But underneath the surface the ocean currents are starting to change and the El Niño is expected to swing quickly into the opposite phase, La Niña.… Continue reading this article “The Times They Are A-Changin’—What the new La Niña Watch means for the NH growing season”
Over the course of this winter there have been several days when the temperature plummeted after the passage of an Arctic front as strong winds blew frigid air into parts of the United States. It can happen in other parts of the world, too. When this happens, the National Weather Service (NWS) often issues Wind Chill Warnings urging people to bundle up before they head outside into the dangerously cold weather. From time to time I am asked if plants also experience wind chill.… Continue reading this article “Does Wind Chill Affect Plants?”
I’ve been a gardening mythbuster for almost a quarter century. You’d think the quality of information would slowly be improving, given the increased sophistication of many gardeners regarding their information source. But every day my news feed connects me with articles that I’m sure some AI entity thinks will be enlightening.… Continue reading this article “Putting down a danger tree”
