Flower fatality, Plant a Row

April 21st, 2010

   I just ran across the first case of unfortunate premature bloomulation this week in the form of fried magnolia flowers.

   The main danger of early and extended warmth is what happens when the temperatures suddenly dip back to below their freezing norms. Some plants are more sensitive to that than others.

   Magnolias are apparently very sensitive. I saw a couple of southern magnolias this week with brown petals where big, pink ones should be in early May. That won’t happen this year. The flower buds were pushed too far along too soon, and when the overnight lows in some areas dipped a tad below freezing, it was bye-bye buds.

   This won’t harm the overall health of the tree. We’ll just have to wait until next spring for a new show.

   If you’ve started planting your vegetable garden or are making plans to do that shortly, don’t forget to set aside some space for the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.

   This wonderful idea creates a network of dropoff points where gardeners can take their surplus harvest, which is then distributed to agencies that feed the hungry in the Harrisburg area.

   Channels Food Rescue does the picking-up and dropping-off. Your job is to grow the stuff. It makes a difference. I just posted this year’s collection points at www.georgeweigel.net/plant-a-row-for-the-hungry.