Weather
Watch
Dan
Herms reports PJM rhododendrons pushing a few blooms the week of the OTF
Conference and Show and the OSU Green Industry Short Course in early December.
Jim Chatfield reports forsythia blooming on December 13 in Rushville in central
Ohio. Denise Ellsworth notes Dame’s rocket wildflower/weed blooming the next
week in northeast Ohio. Dan Herms, in central Kentucky with his parents and
family at Christmas – and ornamental cherries are in full bloom.
What
does it all mean? Well, concerns over weather and climate are timeless: as Mark
Twain quipped, “Climate is what we
expect, weather is what we get.” Setting El Nino’s and climate aside for a
later article, our weather that we got this fall and the first few weeks of
winter was extremely unusual, setting a number of records. For example, in
Akron, the average temperature for the month as I write this on December 30,
2015 was 44.5 degrees, roughly comparable to the average December temperature
for Atlanta, Georgia.
For
specific concerns relative to the landscape:
1).
Tim Malinich poetically notes, there will be a “Loss of bloom for precocious bloomers”. For the sparsely flowering
forsythia and the spotty blooms on rhododendron this will probably not even be
noticeable in the spring. For the flowering cherry Dan noted, ornamental effect
may indeed be a low show for spring.
2).
For woody plants, the first test of the winter season will be how rapidly
temperatures drop. Freezing of water into ice crystals for intercellular water
even of dormant plants in unusually warm winter weather is always a concern.
Concern may be multiplied this year due to the missing autumn, but the closer
to normal 30s-40s in the day and 20s at night that during New Year’s week
succeeded the 50s-60s of Christmas week was probably useful, providing more
normal fall-ish weather. Naturally, this issue will possibly repeat, and all
depends on the January-March weather to come.
Sudden
drops from seasonably unusually warm weather is usually the biggest culprit in
killing stem tissue, though severe low temperature freezes that affect stem and
root survival is also a concern, but will simply just be “what we get”. Mulching can provide some moderation.
3).
Tim Malinich also brings up an interesting dilemma with regard to weed control.
He notes: “Winter annuals are
loving this, lots of new germination and growth. Should be a bumper crop
waiting for the landscapers in April. If it doesn’t slow down a bit they
may be in seed before the crews can get them out next year meaning extra weed
problems for the next couple seasons; plan on proper identification and precise
timing of pre-emergent applications next spring AND fall. This goes for
containers in production as well. Make sure beds are clean prior to
mulching.”
4). Bee gardeners should note the words of Barb Bloetscher,
from ODA, who notes that: “The honey bees have been active through fall
and Nov-Dec. reports of them bringing in pollen during the first 2 weeks of
December. With honey bees still active and very little nectar/ pollen
available, they are eating stored pollen and honey which could deplete the
amount of food necessary to survive winter and early spring. Researchers are
seeing and predicting losses throughout the northeastern and northern U.S. “
5).
On the turfgrass side, Joe Rimelspach (OSU-Plant Pathology) notes a similar
concern with sudden temperature drops: “On the lawn side of
the landscape, at this point we should not see any serious problems. One
exception would be newly seeded lawns with juvenile seedling. These could be
injured if there is a severe and sudden drop in temperatures or if covered in
ice (standing water that freezes). Turf type Tall Fescues are usually the most
vulnerable.” Hopefully, we shall enter more traditional winter weather with
a continued moderation of the transition that occurred in late December.
From
the Jewish Arbor Day tradition, Tu Bishvat, the “New Year for Trees”
celebration, comes this closing:
“It is the New Year of Trees, but here the
ground is frozen under the crust of snow. The trees snooze, there buds tight as
nuts. Rhododendron leaves roll up their stiff scrolls.”
