Tony.
Be very aware of a major cold shot showing up on the models. It started showing hints of this a few days back. Its UGLY cold… This might be one of those years that many get wiped out.
Omaha …5F …
http://wxweb.meteostar.com/sample/sample.shtml?text=koma
It’s a good thing we thank the messengers instead of offing them nowadays.
That’s not what I wanted to hear just as I’m finally comfortable that most of my trees are blooming at their normal times instead of too early.
The forecast is far enough out that the confidence level can’t be too high. Maybe the dip will stay north. This area lost a lot in the March 29th freeze last year. I’m going to be disheartened if there is a repeat so soon, because it doesn’t happen very frequently here.
It shows us dropping as far as the upper 20’s. That means I’ll be shuffling at least a few heavy containers one or more times, even if we just go into the 30’s. I was hoping my current effort was the final time for this half of the year. Looks like it’s probably not.
Today I pulled all my potted plants out of the basement (the sepulcher of sadness) and gave them a nice soak. I also put my newly rooted figs outside, and they seem to be loving it. Just in time; they had been looking pitifully pale and droopy in the dry interior of my home.
The crocus in the backyard provided some color:
I also drove to my mountain property and planted two new trees there. Sunny and very warm. First time I had been there in what felt like an eternity. It was GLORIOUS to be outside digging and manhandling the soil.
Here is the Red Gravenstein apple on B.9:
Here is the Harrow Delight pear on OHF.87:
Tomorrow, I’ll plant me some peaches…
almost 70 here in NYC, unfurled the fig burrito, added those leaves and many more bags to various areas, turned compost, checked on fall planted bulbs, woke up the strawberry and asparagus beds, annual battle with the honey suckle has started, trimmed blueberries, Nadia, and Santa Rosa, prepped new beds for cherries, plum/pluots and cherries.
could have did more but meh, it’s early
Here’s a few. Also visited Chinatown, the Reading Terminal Market, Independence Mall, and Elfreths Alley (the oldest street in America).
Sorry to hog your bandwidth, Scott!
We are finally losing much of our snow here ( still a couple weeks early for it ) and looks like it will probably be all gone over the next seven days (per the forecast) A major cold spell shouldn’t hurt us here and is usually expected . In fact sometimes it is beneficial in terms of insect numbers for the growing season depending on how cold it gets and how long it last !
Those are all excellent life experiences.
Best time to be in Philadelphia is spring.
Cheesesteak? Find any good fruit at the market?
I worked outside all day and it was great! I have so much to do! I got some done, I was moving slow still recovering from a kidney stone. I finally passed it after 4 days. I feel a little weak and stressed from it all, I’m not 100% yet. I up-potted some of my figs today. The 4 lamp T5 lights kept them really healthy and the leaves are very dark, amazing how well it works. The plants had over 2 hours sun the first day out and didn’t burn, they seem assimilated after 3 days now. Nice we had filtered light and all, perfect timing to assimilate them. i can’t believe how big some are already.
I need to plant winter veggies! It’s been too wet! I have about 15 figs to transplant still too! I went a little over board on figs this year!
Just ordered more goodies from Cummins:
-Blackpearl cherry on Gisela.6 (they had one left!)
-Old Greengage euro plum on Myro. (based upon @alan’s advice)
-Newtown Pippin apple on Geneva.16 (been wanting to add this to my personal orchard for a long time)
Delivery is due in late March.
Wait, don’t blame me for the Green Gage. It’s an exceptional plum when grown in perfect conditions, but it is probably very, very difficult in MD. It certainly is not high up on the list of plums I recommend here, but is probably great in a not to hot or cold Mediterranean climate.
I recommended Cummins as a source of the genuine article as their material comes from the Cornell breading program. “GG” is often not GG from other sources.
I’ve been to all the places before, so nothing too life changing!
Got an awesome pork sandwich at the market, skipped the cheesesteaks. Neat produce is in the Chinatown grocery stores, but I didn’t have time to visit them.
Alan,
I know the risks. My property is up in the mountains (z6b) so maybe they at least have a slim chance of success. If it fails, then I’ll graft it over with Golden Trans Gage or Bavay or something more sensible.
I figure if I don’t try to grow the real Greengage, I may never have an opportunity to taste it and see what the Europeans are raving about.
First asian persimmon I ever saw or ate, was at the Reading Terminal Market-- a “Sharon Fruit” from Israel.
More signs of spring:
Hesse Weinberger plumcot flower buds swelling fast!
Golden raspberry greening up:
My late grandfather’s rose, which I transplanted to my place and named “Orville” after him-- leafing out:
Yellow daffodil days coming on quick:
This morning, I planted the Harrow Diamond peach on Krymsk.1, but I forgot to snap a pic.
Here’s hoping it gives me a peach really early-- perhaps the Fourth of July! Wouldn’t that be great? A guy can hope.
Wow, you have some good trees added this year! I see scion in my future! 
Matt,
Ever get to try the fruit of the Hesse Plumcot? Brady
Not yet. I’m hoping to this summer. Scott Smith says it’s a winner.
It was rainy here today so we didn’t work outside. We did some stuff inside on house already built and got off work by 1:30. When I got home I had my persimmons trees waiting for me in their package. I opened them up and stuck them in a bucket of rainwater. I planted all three after bringing in the groceries. Then I emptied the ashes out of my outdoor wood stove. Went inside and planted some cuttings of collious. Checked my figs looks like some more might root. The ones that did root I put in a big clear plastic tub to keep them in. I put a little bit of long strand moss in there to make it humid and put the lid on. the next day when I checked them they had roots shooting out of the cuttings everywhere! I’m talking about cuttings already planted in cups with leaves growing. I then left the lid cracked and now the roots have died and the leaves turned into branches.
I’ve had problems the last couple years losing a lot of blueberry fruit buds and tips due to the cold harsh winters. Took Drews suggestion and applied wiltstop to them and my peach trees first week of Dec when it was mild. All the blueberries I checked today have nice green wood all the way to the tips- every one! Also, checked one branch from one of the peach trees and it looks nice and green, flower buds look great too! Thanks Drew! Really appreciate that tip.
