This weekend I got to take a leisurely drive to the northern end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with my daughter so she could check out Michigan Tech University. Lots to see along the 488 mile drive from DeWitt to Houghton, including a moose, lots of snowmobiles, and the world famous ‘Yooper tourist trap’. (For the uninitiated, people that live in the U.P. are known as Yooper’s, while those of us that live beneath the Mackinac Bridge are known as ‘Trolls’) Once we got along the Lake Superior side of the U.P.… Continue reading this article “Rime and Reason”
Tag: winter
The Winter Weekend Garden Warrior
As Garden Professors, we are very careful regarding product endorsements. Actually, much energy is spent trying to bring to light weird/crappy/useless/money-wasting gardening products.
But when we feel strongly about the usefulness, quality, and utility of a product, it is our duty to pass that information along as well.
I didn’t mean to be a walking advertisement last weekend.
We were in the final throes of getting our garden cut back; Joel was laughing that I “needed another set of hands” when I came around the corner. … Continue reading this article “The Winter Weekend Garden Warrior”
Selection and Protection: Preventing the heartbreak of splayage
We’ve had considerable discussion over on the FaceBook site concerning snow damage to columnar arborvitae. This is a common phenomenon resulting in a condition Holly has dubbed ‘splayage’.
The question, of course, is what to do about it? My standard response to addressing most problems related to winter injury is there are two options: selection and protection.
Selection means putting the right plant in the right place. For columnar arbs this means not planting them in areas prone to wet heavy snow. … Continue reading this article “Selection and Protection: Preventing the heartbreak of splayage”
The winter of our discontent
I was in the field today at our Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center (SWMREC) so just a quick post and a couple of pictures. Today is the last official day of winter but you’d never know to look outside. Our current temperature in East Lansing is 78 deg. F. Our late winter warm up has officially reached historic proportions as we have blown by 1945 as the warmest winter in record in lower Michigan. To give you an idea of how messed up things are the current temperature in Minneapolis, MN (77 deg.)… Continue reading this article “The winter of our discontent”
Winter winners podcast
I got so excited about our live tree hunt (posted yesterday) that I forgot to put up the podcast! So here it is…Winter Winners.
The interview of the week is at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, with Director Dr. Sarah Reichard. We visited the Winter Garden, where she (wearing her taxonomy hat) picked out her favorite plants. They include paperbark maple (Acer griseum)…
(the sun shining through the bark is incredible)
…and contorted hazelnut (Corylus contorta)…
(hard to see, but love the bare twigs)
…and Garrya x issaquahensis…
(these most amazing catkins get longer and longer)
…and Rhododendron strigillosum with the coolest bristly petioles:
(a very tidy rhododendron)
As always, I would love questions and suggestions for future podcasts!
Who you gonna call?
As I noted last week, this has been a long winter in Michigan – OK, Jeff, no chortling from the frozen tundra of Minnesota… Most gardeners in this area have only been able to do their spring yard and garden clean-ups in fits and starts as the weather allows. We’re finally warming up a bit this week but now strong storms are in the forecast. One of the things gardeners will want to do is to size up any winter damage that has occurred since they put things to bed last fall. … Continue reading this article “Who you gonna call?”
Cold enough for ya?
Like many people we spent the past couple days digging out from the massive snowstorm that swept across a large swath of the country. This was definitely a made-for-TV-weather event as national and local TV weatherfolks took up their positions and gave us breathless live-remotes of the “Blizzard of 2011”.
40 mph wind + 1 little crack = a barn full of snow.
Almost as predictable as video footage of snow-ploughs on the streets and locals snow-blowing sidewalks; climate change skeptics are using the recent round of winter weather as proof that global warming is a hoax and that there’s really nothing to worry about except the economics of ‘cap and trade’. … Continue reading this article “Cold enough for ya?”
Winter Trade Show Report
Disclaimer: The information and images below should not be construed as any sort of recommendation, remedy or advice. Just some cool and/or weird stuff I saw at a green industry trade show. Plus this blog needs more photos.
Was at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS… and yes, there is a Pennsylvania version…PANTS) in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago. It’s a wonderful opportunity to visit with past students (now gainfully employed – yay!). I also get to personally thank the nurseries and other businesses that generously support our Horticulture Department and Garden. … Continue reading this article “Winter Trade Show Report”
Snow falling on cedars…not always a good thing
Seattle had its first snowfall last week – a mere 3-6″ – and the city shut down. (Yes, those of you in the snowier parts of the midwest and east can laugh…but we’ve got hills. That’s the main problem.) It was unusally cold, so the snow that fell was the light, fluffy kind that I remember from our Buffalo years.
Every year someone writes to ask whether they should remove the snow from their trees and shrubs. … Continue reading this article “Snow falling on cedars…not always a good thing”
The Glories of The Winter Greenhouse
I’m a Southerner. With a capital “S”. Which is why I am Suffering, with another capital “S”. Here in the Blue Ridge mountains of western Virginia, we have officially surpassed Anchorage and Denver in total snowfall for the season. Today’s batch adds up to 24″ on the ground at our farm.
Blueberries in the snow. If one more person says “Probably good for all the insect problems,” I’m going to get violent.
The chickens are not happy.… Continue reading this article “The Glories of The Winter Greenhouse”