Dayton "Dirt" - April 15, 2016

Last weekend was quite miserable for April 8-9th with the persistent cold. Strangely, as the sky began to clear at about 7 pm on Saturday, the temperature was 31º F and continued to fall slowly to about 28º F at 10 pm. Most likely the low temperatures reached about 20º F briefly but that is much better than the weather prediction of 16º F for Akron-Canton airport that would most likely have resulted in a low of about 12-13º F at the nursery! Needless to say, we are behind in setting up the outside sales yard due to the weather conditions but are hopeful by the weekend to have a presentable display. Work will continue on the set up at a feverish pace while the potting of azalea,  mountain laurel, Japanese maples and other trees is performed by another group. The amount of payroll including everyone’s wages plus taxes owed by the company is staggering especially when there is not much income because of the nasty weather!

I must make a correction though as last week’s blog stated that the first Earth Day was April 20, 1970 when in fact it was April 22,1970. On April 20th @ 6:30 pm the Summit County Farm Bureau will present a program called “Backyard Chickens” in the Owl Barn. To register for  this event on raising chickens, please register with the summitcountyfarmbureau.org

While the daffodils and hyacinths having emerged early took quite a beating from last week’s bitter cold, the emerging Darwin tulips look as though they have survived nicely. Most likely they will begin to bloom in earnest next week to be followed by a later group about May 1st through Mother’s Day. In 2012, the Tulip festival in Holland, Michigan had sheets printed with “Stem Fest” as by the time the festival was held in early May the flowers were spent with only the stems remaining! Que sera sera!

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - April 8, 2016

Well, it has happened; that is, the cold snap after everything was pushed ahead by the abnormally warm weather! It reminds me of a few years ago when the weather was “too warm” for March and then on April 7th a cold front came in and dropped the temperature overnight to 19º F with 35 mph winds! The high for the next day was only 35º when a remote broadcast of our radio show “Get Ready, Set, Grow” was going on at the main library in Akron for an event called “A Garden Affair”. These weather ups and downs is why the nursery sometimes is not set up as quickly as the customers might like it to be. The weather is causing considerable extra work and expense but that is nothing new.

Potting of perennial plants is about done and will not resume until late May when we begin to plant again for our late crops in summer. Some bare root shrubs still need to be potted with small pots of shrubs coming in the week of April 14th to be planted in larger pots for summer sales. Among all this planting activity is the rush to set up the sales yard by April 15th although I think because of the delay of this past cold week, it may be closer to April 20th which ironically is Earth Day with the  first Earth Day being April 20th , 1970. Needless to say, this time of year the work at the nursery is never ending and must move fast while in winter the struggle is finding enough things to do to keep busy!

No doubt, everyone that visits the nursery in the later part of April and May will certainly think it is a Garden Affair!

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - April 1, 2016

Last Saturday morning, a low of 24º F was the result of a clear night. Unfortunately, some of the Forsythia that bloomed early and magnolia blossoms were killed or severely damaged since they were pushed out about 2 weeks ahead with the abnormally warm weather. Stock is still arriving making it quite difficult to set up the nursery properly as it looks somewhat messy as trees and shrubs are continually unloaded, untied and tagged for later sales. Then because of the massive amount of bare root trees and shrubs arriving from Lake County and Minnesota, a fresh batch of 75 cubic yards of pine bark potting mix had to be processed. One of the worst scenarios is to have a production line of workers potting the stock and then having to shut down because the mix had run out!

Actually some cold weather or more normal weather would allow us more time to set up the “mess” properly and to finish our potting of stock as the customers, excited by the warm weather keep “interrupting” our work! The reality of the situation is that satisfied customers are the life blood of any business including the nursery business and without them, the work we do really does not matter!

On Saturday, February 13th the low temperature at the nursery was -9º F and now it is April. It is literally true that time does fly!

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 25, 2016

For sure spring is here but you wouldn’t know it from the snow and cold on its first full day. With the vernal equinox now past, the duration and brightness of light will continue to grow resulting in the life giving warmth of yet another Ohio spring. This past week has pretty much worn everyone out on 5 tractor trailer loads of nursery stock arriving along with more bare root trees and shrubs. Still the potting of perennials goes on and numerous annual flowers which will culminate in the opening of the perennial and annual flower houses at the end of  April. I remember a few years ago when on Sunday morning in early May a customer was observant enough to notice a somewhat anxious look on my face after the greenhouse filled with customers within 10 minutes of opening. I explained to this observant man that I was quite nervous about our salespeople to adequately handle and serve such a crowd. He explained to me that I needed to expect such a rush in that there are so many pretty things at the nursery that people just want to come and see them.

With Easter so early this year, it has been a challenge to fill the greenhouse with color as bulbs, lilies and a few other colorful perennials have to be forced along with more heat than normal. Then there is the opposite problem outside of the heat forcing the season somewhat early!

Our last seminar of “What’s New” finishes the winter seminar season and even now one interesting speaker has been lined up for next spring on a specific topic about herbaceous perennials. Whatever goes on here at the nursery, advanced planning definitely helps.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 18, 2016

While the expected March winds arrived with a wallop this past week, a general cool down for the next few days is in store and will serve as a brake to the roaring spring that we’ve had so far with the soaring temperatures that are more like mid-April than mid-March.

At the nursery, more annual flower plugs, bare root shrubs and trees as well as thousands more perennials are arriving in abundance. The trouble with all of these plants arriving at once is that each of these legs of production must be performed quickly as the plant groups mentioned cannot sit for long as they are quite perishable in the bare root or small plug stage.

A bright spot in the work this spring is that the work crew is excellent especially when compared to last year in that when necessary, the workers will join forces as a cohesive unit in order to quickly accomplish every task.

Tomorrow is the last of our winter seminars on the always popular topic, what’s new? Oodles of new perennials, trees and shrubs will be “on the shelves” this year.

Then on April 20 at 6:30 pm, which happens to be Earth Day, the Summit County Farm Bureau is sponsoring an informational seminar on raising backyard chickens. While this program is free for farm bureau members, the general public is welcome also for free or long as you register in advance by calling the farm bureau at 330-456-4889. Seating is limited and refreshments are provided.

Such is a busy spring and only to get ready for April and May…

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 12, 2016

With the weather this past week and the forecast next week it looks as though spring is on a rapid march in March! Looking longer term, cooler temperatures would definitely “work” better as early warming will cause new growth and early flowering of many plants only to be nipped by frosts. One hopeful aspect of the unusually warm temperatures is that at least there is some rain and the ground is not beginning to crack from dryness such as was the case in 2012.

This weather now reminds me of the year 1973 when temperatures like now were very warm at the tail end of February and early March with the warm up ending the 17th of March with a 1 foot snowfall. Afterwards, the warm up was then gradual resulting in a beautiful spring albeit that May was extremely rainy.

Work at the nursery is speeding up too with operations in full swing on multiple fronts such as in the greenhouse perennial potting, rose potting, the receipt of some balled and burlapped nursery stock and the clean up of perennials in the over-wintering huts.

Two more winter seminars are scheduled including one by Judy Semroc who will present The Life and Decline of the Monarch Butterfly. The good news this year is that the Monarch is on better footing with the “luck” of more favorable weather during their migration and over-wintering in  Mexico. The bad new’s is that the Monarch is still below the numbers needed to have a stable population that would not be wiped out from a severe “hit”.

Let’s hope for somewhat of a cool down so that spring will arrive slow and easy instead of coming in like a lamb and going out as if it were the month of May!

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - March 4, 2016

Mark Langan from the Mulberry Creek Herb Farm was so informative about the world of miniature gardening that the audience was almost uneasily silent as they seemed to listen intently to Mark’s every word. The display of miniature plants on tables was quite fascinating and was helpful in visualizing the scale of these miniature plants. Tomorrow’s seminar is “Root to Stalk Cooking” with Tamara Mitchell that will guide us on the use of the garden’s bounty.

The Witch Hazel in the garden is blooming beautifully with shades of bright yellow from ‘Arnold’s Promise’ and the coppery-orange blossoms from the variety called ‘Jelena’. So many varieties of this genus called Hamamelis are available today that one could state that these exists in a literal smorgasbord of colors. This genus is quite strange blooming in February in that the blossoms are quite resistant to all but the most severe freeze when the plants are in full flower. At the other  extreme are evergreen azaleas in which just a touch of frost in May when they are in full bloom will render the blossoms shriveled and lifeless with the hope of next year of a frost-free mid May. Perennial plugs (as the young plants are called) are now arriving by the thousands from Holland, Michigan to be potted quickly into pots for growing to a larger size before being sold. An arrangement of a mobile bin to hold potting soil and a series of roller conveyors makes for a look of an assembly line when potted plants roll down the conveyor to be tagged, fertilized and then taken off the conveyor to be placed in the greenhouse to be watered in well. This spring, 30,000+ perennials will be processed this way with another almost 20,00 coming out of winter storage. The  perennial production is only one facet of the spring operations as the season rolls along. Come get a peak of  “What’s new in Perennials” with the final seminar on March 19th. Hope to see you there.

Tom