Dayton "Dirt" - December 6, 2013

The weather this November and now December is statistically colder then official normal but is still closer to average then the December of 1997 and 2006 when temperatures reached the 50º, 60º and even 70ºF marks for long stretches at a time. Some customer’s even had the audacity to shop for a Christmas tree wearing shorts. The cut trees do seem fuller and fresher than last year from plenty of rainfall and accompanying cooler temperatures. Some trees that had to remain in the field did not seem to fare well as the severe frost on May 30th this past spring killed the new emerging, tender young growth so that it is still hanging on the trees! Firs are especially susceptible to frost damage as the new growth flushes earlier than pines or spruces. Many of our larger 10-11 foot trees have already been sold, however we’ve recently cut some gorgeous Canaan Firs of a height of 10-12 feet. These firs resemble the Fraser Fir but without as much as the glaucous shiny coating as the Frasers display. Canaan Fir will drop few if any needles if the trees are cut about Thanksgiving or later. The warm up this past week has enabled us to plant the remainder of our tulips, hyacinths, crocus and narcissus along with over 100 daylilies of various colors on a steep bank along the road in Wolf Creek gardens. When the weather “goes south” again, we’ll move inside to continue the construction of the self-watering greenhouse benches in the production greenhouses. Our replacement white poly on our azalea overwintering hut seems to be holding quite well compared to the plastic we put over the frame in early November. It was so fortunate that we caught the problem before the poly tore and blew off as the hut is full of azalea, rhododendron, mountain laurel and hydrangeas that would be outright killed if temperatures reached the single digits or the upper teens with strong winds without being covered. I’m very excited to view the new Jacqueline series of azaleas next May along with the Proven Winner Bloom-a-thon azaleas that will bloom most of the spring, summer and fall instead of one splash of color in early spring. The winter solstice approaches so enough for now about spring. Tom