From balmy to freezing- typical January weather in Baltimore

On Sunday January 4 I planted this Rose of Sharon shrub in my yard. It came into my garden because I was walking to church on the evening of Christmas Eve and noticed a neighbor had left about a dozen landscaping plants outside of their house, with a “free” sign attached. Well, I have a small yard now so I have to choose these things carefully and at the time I didn’t think I had room for one. Besides, it was raining and I didn’t think it was practical to carry a wet, soil covered potted tree or shrub to church while wearing a nice outfit.

The next morning, Christmas Day, I decided to walk up and see if any were still left. I took this Rose of Sharon  because I thought the growing conditions it needed would make it perfect for right next to my birdbath.

I planted it on that balmy January Sunday when I didn’t have to wear a jacket or worry about frozen ground. A couple of days later we had a snowstorm and temperatures in the single digits. I was gathering clothes for laundry and it seemed incredulous that I was wearing these same lightweight clothes the day before.

I started brainstorming ideas for an article about the quickly shifting winter weather here in Maryland. It seems to be a trademark of our state, so I wrote “Changeable weather causes damage to trees and shrubs”.  Not my most imaginative title, but at least I am back after not posting for a while.

Back Again

George Baily's wrecked car was represented at the flower show.

I am returning to my Baltimore Gardening Examiner post after a couple of years off. I wasn’t sure if I should continue writing with Examiner as it seemed rather time consuming but I missed it. I have some fresh ideas so let’s see what happens this go around.

I working on an Examiner article about how trees and shrubs are damaged by winter freezing and thawing. I don’t want to plan too many tree articles, but I want to look at evergreen trees locally to spotlight some winter color. I used to do “flower of the month” and would like to do something like that again so I can write about flowers in the dead of winter.

Speaking of flowers, I hit the annual poinsettia show at the Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory  in Druid Hill Park, but I never got a chance to write about it. It had a clever “It’s a Wonderful Life” theme this year. I thought the car scene was clever, using an existing tree and then the round plant echoes the shape of the car wheel.

Cherry Blossoms at Fort McHenry

Wordless Wednesday: The DC Cherry Blossoms

New Quilt!

This weekend while I was away at Chincoteague for the last time this year I finished my latest quilt. I had my doubts about bringing it while I was away but I was glad because I finally finished it. It took me more than a year because I prefer to hand sew. The night it was done I had a nightmare that I was working on a quilt and every time I thought I finished it I found something else that needed serious work. Also, everyone hated it. This quilt, however, is really not for public show but simply because I needed a new quilt for my bed.

Evening at Chincoteague

This is on the wildlife loop at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

Wordless Wednsday: The Shenandoah River at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia