Dear Clients and Friends,
Most days, when I am in town, I ride my stationary bike, which is located in my office/all-purpose hangout room. It faces the window over my desk so, as I’m riding, I can look outside and see the weather, what my plants are doing, and look for subtle signs that the seasons are changing.
The weather this year has been anything but normal, as you all know. Over 60 inches of rain this year, thus far (can you say New Orleans?); hot one day, cold the next; fall color all over the map this year (as you can see, many of my trees have yet to turn color); and I’ve noticed all these crazy discrepancies while riding my bike.
Dr. Marc Cathey (rest his soul), a former director of the National Arboretum and former President of the American Horticultural Society, was a guest on my radio show back in the 1990s. He said (and I’ll never forget it), “Once the dogwoods come into bloom in the spring, everything falls in place and is in sync.” He would be spinning in his grave, these days—from flowers to fall color, nothing seems to be in sync anymore, including when the heat and cold weather arrive. Much disorder.
The plants in my garden got lots of winter damage from the very early, deep freezes of last winter. I lost many plants. Southern magnolias, for some reason (I think they didn’t have time to sufficiently harden off), had a particularly rough time. Flowers were lost on camellias and other blooming evergreens. What a mess. I am hoping for a milder winter, this year.
Next story > Preparing your garden for Winter
IN THIS ISSUE: