The Mid-Atlantic is under stormy skies this week and while you are checking your basement for flooding, check your storm drains for clogging.

More than a half inch of rain had fallen by Thursday morning and more was expected. Flood warnings have been issued for creeks and streams.

Debris from the recent wind storms may have collected on the streets and washed into the drains, causing the kinds of serious back-ups that can flood streets and yards.

In addition, there is no reason to let that debris wash into the already-compromised Chesapeake Bay.

Continue reading "Stormy weather" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Photo credit: Laura Mathews/Punk Rock Gardens

Gardeners usually think of winter as a time of dormancy. But for us and for the plants.

We talk about "winter interest," but what we usually mean is the odd shrub with berries or the interesting tree bark.

Sara Barrett in the New York Times is writing this week about winter interest in an entirely different way. A winter garden where the plants of summer remain, to be the structure of winter.

She has conducted an interview with Piet Oudolf, who is the leading exemplar of the "New Perennials" landscape movement, which holds that plants should be chosen for shape and texture more than for color.

(There is a fabulous on-line photo gallery, too.)

A new way to think about winter....as something that gets started in the summer.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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As a gardener, I am forced to agree, if for no other reason than there is not much the gardener can do about the weather, whatever form it takes.

Gardeners from Maine to Texas are enduring a snow storm that is being called the worst in 50 years, and when that snow melts, there will be tree and shrub damage aplenty.

Snowstorms do have their appeal, especially to the cocoon side of us. Fireplace fires, hot chocolate, steaming soup, quiet walks through the neighborhood to the home of a friend.

But snow is good for the garden, too. Better for the garden than you think.

Snow actually protects the garden from the cold, and especially from the drying effects of a cold wind. It is an excellent insulator. Snow increases the temperature at soil surface by about 2 degrees for every inch of accumulation, according to the Purdue University extension service.

As the snowflakes pile on top of one another, pockets of air are left between them and it is this air that provides the insulating effect.

Snow not only protects from the drying winds, but it brings needed moisture to plants that will continue to lose moisture through their branches, both evergreen and leafless. And, of course, melting snow feeds the soil, carrying nutrients and moisture.

Continue reading "A blanket of snow -- literally" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Photo credit: REUTERS/ Jason Cohn

It is Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow when he emerged from his hole this morning and that means there will be an early spring this year.

Or not.

Phil has only been correct about 40 percent of the time since he began predicting the seasons on Gobbler's Knob 125 years ago. He'd do better if he flipped a coin.

But no matter. The Midwest and the Northeast are getting pounded by snow and freezing winds right now and, even if it is a groundhog that's predicting it, word that winter will last only two more weeks is welcome.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Snow at night from Laura Mathews of Punk Rock Gardens

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Wednesday night is the full moon, and it is also known, according to my 2011 Old Farmer's Almanac calendar, as the Wolf Moon.

Wolfe Moon is the name the full moon is given in January, also known as the Old Moon or the Moon after Yule.

The name dates back to Native Americans and probably comes from the hungry packs of wolves who would howl during cold winter nights.

According to Wikipedia, Native Americans kept track of the season by giving names to each of the full moons. It is something that European settlers continued to do.

The moon is scheduled to rise over Baltimore at about 5:17 p.m., although cloud cover may dampen its drama.

Next month? The Ice Moon or Snow Moon. Due February 18.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The National Weather Service at BWI-Marshall Airport has issued a freeze warning for Friday night in Baltimore County, Northern and Western Maryland.

Temperatures dipped Thursday night to 39 degrees, the lowest we've seen since May 11.

Earlier, the NWS had issued a freeze "watch." The "warning" makes it more likely that temperatures will drop into the low 30s.

Bring in your houseplants and cover tender annuals and herbs. Your cold weather vegetables are actually going to like this! Cold temperatures make them sweeter and more tasty.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

Hurricane Nicole dumped plenty of rain on Maryland Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and the runoff blew out the safeguards on the construction site of a new school in Annapolis.

The result was a river of clay-colored water gushing over the neighborhood streets of Homewood and into the storm drains stenciled "Chesapeake Bay."

Officials from the city of Annapolis to the Board of Education, which is building the new Germantown Elementary School, said the contractor, Oak Construction of Baltimore County, was not in violation of any codes and the plans to handle storm runoff were adequate.

Apparently not.

Continue reading "Runaway runoff" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Fall arrives at 11:09 tonight, ushered in by its own personal spotlight - the Harvest Moon.

The first full day of the Autumnal Equinox coincides with the full moon and, in September, that moon is called the Harvest Moon.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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A rainless hurricane?

That seems to be our fate in bone-dry Maryland where Hurricane Earl may pass without delivering so much as a bucket of spit.

Gardeners have a dark secret. We don't really mind hurricane season as long as nobody dies and not much gets damaged - because the garden gets plenty of water before settling down for the winter.

As a matter of fact, we kind of count on a a busy storm season to do the kind of deep watering the earth needs. Believe me, a hose doesn't get it done.

We got that kind of moisture in the form of snow last winter. And it really showed in the gardens this spring.

This from my fellow blogger Frank Roylance over at Maryland Weather:

Continue reading "Hurricane Earl" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Frigid weather in Florida is taking a toll on the winter tomato crop, according to the Associated Press.

Florida growers, the main source for winter tomatoes, lost about 70 percent of their crop during a January cold snap. And as a result, wholesale prices are five times what they were last year.

The average price for a 25-pound box of tomatoes is $30, up from $6.50 a year ago. Florida normally ships about 25 million pounds a week. Now they are shipping less than a quarter of that.

The shortage is felt most sharply by restaurant and fast food chains, who have had to absorb the price increases. Home cooks will notice it at the grocery store, too. 

Continue reading "Winter tomatoes: I never liked them anyway" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kenneth K. Lam

The snow is melting, slowly, around my house in Annapolis and the damage to my foundation plantings is beginning to reveal itself.

And it isn't pretty.

The fothergilla gardenii across the front of my house has been crushed and broken. If the snow hadn't been 40 inches deep, I might have been able to get to them with a broom and brush most of it off.

Continue reading "Shrub damage revealed!" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Juniper tree damaged at Cylburn Mansion in Baltimore. Photo by Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun

The people behind the plants at Maryland's public gardens crossed their fingers when the storm predictions grew and grew last week.

It is hard to prepare 200 acres, most of it woodlands, to withstand the snow and the wind that were predicted.

When the sun came out, the horticulturists did, too. And what they found broke their collective hearts.

Hundred-old-boxwoods at Cylburn Arboretum bent and broken under the weight of the storm. Hollies and cypress uprooted or broken in half at the Paca House in Annapolis, London Town in Edgewater. A holly split and an American pine uprooted at London Town Public House and Gardens in Anne Arundel County

And, as you might imagine, there isn't much money in the kitty these days for heavy-duty pruning and replanting that will be necessary

Here is a look at more of the damage.

Continue reading "Storm damage to Maryland's public gardens" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Ann Wallace Riefe sends these photos of snowstorm damage in her backyard in Annapolis.

And yes, that's a stand of bamboo.

Continue reading "Snow damaged trees: Yes, that's bamboo" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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My nephew Rudi, who lives on the Virginia side of Washington, sends this picture of a hardwood tree downed in the storm.

Most of what we have been seeing has been evergreen trees whose wide branches can't handle the weight.

Thanks Rudi. And call your mother!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Amy Kriston's 10-foot cedar, after the second round of snow storms.

Continue reading "Storm damaged trees, continued" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Mary Felter of Annapolis gives us this view of a leland cypress she is pretty sure she has lost!

"This is the second leland cypress tree we have lost. It was ffected by the Feb. 6-7 storm. I haven't even taken a photo yet of the ones at the end of the row that went down Wednesday, and we lost one in the Dec. storm. Sad - and expensive."

Posted by Susan Reimer at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I feel like I am in "The Lord of the Rings," traveling among the Ents, the humanoid trees who had such old, sad tales to tell.

Here is some of what I have seen.

Continue reading "Storm damaged trees: photo gallery" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

We should have wrapped.

We should have pruned.

But we didn't do either one, and now we are in trouble.

We've been talking this week about snow damage to trees, shrubs and ornamentals. And the frustration of professionals trying to get to damaged trees before they fall on cars, houses and power lines.

We haven't had snow like this in Maryland since they started keeping records somewhere in the 1800s, so I think we can be forgiven for not planning better.

It seems clear that we all should have staked our delicate conifers and then wrapped them in burlap. We should have done the same for our shrubs and ornamentals. I don't know if my hydrangeas will ever be the same.

When it comes to our hollies, magnolias and giant evergreens, we should have done some judicious pruning to stabilize the strength of the trees and to remove branches that were just hanging out there, inviting trouble.

Yeah, well, we didn't do any of those things. And now the birds are coming home to roost...well, maybe not in any of THOSE trees.

Continue reading "Snow damaged trees: send us your pictures" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Weather