Where’s Spring ?

I’m writing this on April 4. This week we had 5” of snow on Monday, a flooding rain Tuesday and tornados in Central Ohio on Wednesday! I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Of course when you read this newsletter it might be sunny and 70. Good! I’m ready. Now it’s Saturday the 14th and we finally got 2 nice days so far for the year.

My blog post from last year talks about a 75 degree day in February. No such thing this year! I think we’re just tired of winter this year. It won’t let go! Nothing is growing, not even the weeds. Even the bulbs are slow to flower. But in the long run, that could be good. As you know, we could get a frost up until the middle of May, so a slow warm up will help keep buds and flowers tighter and less likely to freeze.

I say this every year but it bears repeating. Don’t worry about covering those bulbs. They can take the cold. They’ll bounce back after it warms up again. In fact, you can do more damage by covering them when the weight of the blanket breaks them down or forces them even further out by leaving them covered in the daytime.

Despite the cold ugly weather this March, we’ve gotten a lot of calls about new jobs. Keep in mind, ugly weather for people is good weather for digging and planting trees! Trees and shrubs must be dug while they are dormant. When it warms up and they bud out, we can no longer dig them. If you’ve got something to move you need to do it now or wait until they go dormant again in the fall. Planting is another story. Once the trees are dug, such as those above ground in the nursery, they can be planted any time. Even mid summer as long as you can water. Of course spring and fall is better as we are getting natural cool wet weather to help you with the watering chore.

Perennials are not as touchy. Those can be split and moved any time it’s not frozen. In fact, the hot, dry period of late summer is a preferred time to move perennials as long as you can water them once a week.

Hang in there, we’ll soon forget this frozen mud and enjoy another warm, lovely Central Ohio summer.