Typically, Spring in Ohio is really beautiful as the trees open in bloom and put on magnificent displays of color. This year is going to be quite different. The abnormally warm winter sent our early blooming trees into action, but Mother Nature had another idea. The pear trees, magnolias, cherries, and plum blooms have all been completely destroyed by the cold spell that has been around for about a week. The normal color explosion on our streets and in our landscapes is gone for this year. Even the hardy forsythia shrub blooms are damaged! While it is sad that our beautiful trees have lost their Spring appeal, rest assured that the trees are not damaged at all. Life will go on for our trees and maybe next season they will delight us once again...
The Winter of 2017, particularly the latter part, will go down in Cincinnati history as one of the warmest on record. These moderate temperatures have kept soil temperatures above the normal range for winter months and it has caused early greening of grass, perennials are coming alive and flowering trees are already putting on their display. Homeowners have been active in the yard and landscaping companies have been going full throttle! Well, Mother Nature is about to remind us who is in control.. It is time to pump the breaks and realize that we are still in Winter! That won't be considering the cold front that has blown in today and is here to stay for awhile. We are going to see very frigid temperatures for about a week in the overnight hours. That being said, trees and perennials that are in full bloom will surely see those pretty flowers killed off. If a plant or a tree has blooms that are still "bud tight" and about to bloom, they should be okay and will flower as they normally would once things start to warm up again. If you are concerned about what has already fully bloomed, you must take immediate action to cover your plants. Bed sheets and layers of newspaper will work best, but be sure to avoid using plastic bags because they will not insulate properly. There is no guarantee of saving your blooms, but at least you can rest easy knowing you tried! Tonight, Friday March 10th will be the first night of very cold temperatures... Good Luck!
