Winter in Maryland

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:43:08 PST
The weather this week has repeatedly threatened to earn us our zone 7 rating
by dropping overnight into the low teens. Lows of 8ºF were predicted earlier
this week, but it didn’t happen: it might have been as cold as 13ºF or 15ºF,
so this is so far still technically a zone 8 winter. On the other hand, the
overnight lows don’t tell the whole story. Daytime temperatures have not
been above freezing for days.  

It was with a real sense of trepidation that I uncovered this morning the
most protected of the cold frames, the one with things such as Nerine,
Leucocoryne, some Oxalis and other dubiously hardy plants. I only took a
quick look, but everything I noticed looks fine. Those North American
Fritillaria which are so advanced (about the only thing left for them to do
is grow a bit taller, tilt their buds and bloom) also look fine. There is a
plant of Ipheion ‘Alberto Castillo’ just about to bloom.  As long as it’s
sunny, I keep this frame open a crack to avoid too much heat building up. On
a day like today, although the official air temperature is still below
freezing, the sun is warm on the skin. 

I also checked another cold frame; this one is out in the open. This frame
houses Parma violets and some odds and ends. There is a big Arum korolkowii
in this frame (it has not bloomed here yet; the name used is the one under
which it was received). The foliage of the Arum is down curved and looks
hard. I didn’t open this frame. 

Daytime temperatures are predicted to be above freezing for the rest of the
week,  and overnight lows will probably not be below 20º F – that’s more
like it for this time of year. 

 
Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where Lachenalia liliflora
has started to bloom under the plant lights indoors.
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
 
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 
Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 
 
Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/
 
 
 
 
 
 


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