In 2006 the Arbor Day Foundation issued a map showing climate zones had shifted. The USDA with their new map release confirms these trends today. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/#

Plant hardiness zones represent the average extreme minimum temperatures at a location. They don’t reflect the coldest a location has gotten or will get, but rather the average lowest winter temperature. The updated map, the first update since 1990, moves from a static map to an interactive map allowing the user to zero in on their neighborhood. This is very similar to what you would do when using Google maps. This is far better than the  bottom half of Michigan being painted with a broad brush stroke and considered to be “zone 5″ in the old static map. The new interactive map gives credit for pockets or “micro-climates” due to unique circumstances. For example in West Michigan closer to the lake shore the lake “warms” the average minimum temperature and lake effect snows provide plant insulation.

Michigan Hardiness Zones

As you “zone” in it’s not unusual to find different hardiness zones within a community. In my area we have micro-climate variation from 6B (minimum of -5 to 0), 6A (minimum of -10 to -5), 5 B (minimum of -15 t0 -10) and 5A (minimum of -20 to -15) all in the same county.

As an “entre-manure” I’ve always pushed the envelope and tried plants not considered hardy to my zone. For years I’ve planted zone 6 plants even though my area was considered zone 5. With the new map and my move to zone 6 A, don’t be surprised if I’m tempted to experiment with overwintering some zone 7 plants!

Photo courtesy of Bill Hill

Our feathered backyard friends have ways of staying warm on cold days. They shiver to increase their metabolic rate, fluff their feathers to provide some insulation and look for cover both from the cold wind and predators. Small birds have the toughest time in winter. For the entertainment they provide we in return  should consider providing some food for energy and warmth. It’s the least we can do while they’re out there “winging” it.

The best of the best bird feed to use is black oil sunflower seed. A high energy food, black oil sunflower seed “fills the bill” for both large and small birds. Another great high energy and versatile feed along with being economical is suet.

Photo courtesy of Bill Hill

There are many great flavors of suet cakes available today and they’re easy to use.  Suet is consumed by a large variety of birds and is a great supplement when insects are hard to find for a snack. Don’t forget some peanuts, safflower, thistle seed and shelled corn as well as millet. These feeds will provide the supplemental nutrition the birds need when their natural food sources are more difficult to find in the dead of winter. When food is scarce and the air is cold you don’t want the birds to become birds of “pray” just to get by.

Make sure feeders are kept clean and sanitary. This goes for the ground around the base of the feeding station also.

Make sure to add plenty of Black Oil Sunflower

Position feeders a short flight away from natural cover in the landscape so they have some cover from predators (I hate it “wren” that happens). Also make sure feeders are at least 20 feet or more from windows. If the birds get spooked you don’t want them crashing into a window as they make their get away. If possible consider feeding birds during all 4 seasons. They can really use the help right now, but 4 season stations reward the property owner with a rainbow of fowl color all year. The birds will love it and you won’t “egret” it.

Seasonal Recipes from the Garden

If you want to break away from your seed catalog reading and dreaming you can come out to hear him speak at the DeVos Place here in Grand Rapids on Wednesday January 11 at 3 PM.

Here is the link to register for the event:

http://www.plantmichigangreen.com/education

Proven Winners is also bringing an exciting event to West Michigan….their Outdoor Living Extravaganza on Saturday April 14. This enjoyable and educational gardening event and seminar will take place in 4 cities this spring, San Diego, Washington DC, Edmonton Canada and Grand Rapids Michigan! (More specifically Hudsonville Michigan west of Grand Rapids). P Allen Smith will be speaking at this event also.

Tickets are $80 per person and you can register and get event details here:

http://www.provenwinners.com/node/272920

A compost ready stimulus

“Yes, it’s over, call it a day….
Sorry that it had to end this way.
No reason to pretend
We knew it had to end some day, this way“………

Auld Lang "Pine"

Just as we all have some Christmas traditions many have New Year’s traditions too. For me I run the lawnmower on New Year’s eve at some point.  Laugh if you want but it’s safer than shooting guns in the air as is the tradition in some parts of the world. Some years due to snow I can only start the mower in place and let it run for a few moments. This year because of the lack of snow I may be able to take a couple of laps in the yard. My neighbors attribute my behavior to a cup of kindness but I find a much deeper meaning. To make a “lawn” story short, just like a newly mowed lawn we get to trim the past from our lives as the clock strikes midnight and move on with a fresh outlook….a new beginning. I also like to listen to the Dan Fogelberg song “Same Old Lang Syne” a few times. Call me “sappy” but there is something about that song that always touches me. Maybe it’s the line about drinking a toast to innocence, or the “old familiar pain” as the snow turns into rain. It was only recently I realized that the melody phrase at the beginning of each verse is taken by Fogelberg from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture, one of my all time favorite if not most favorite music pieces of music which explains a lot. In my reading I learned that people in Spain consume 12 grapes at midnight, one grape for each stroke of the clock. Looking for a deeper meaning I was disappointed to surmise the tradition began in 1909 when grape growers started the practice to take care of a grape surplus. Others eat pork or ham based on the idea pigs symbolize progress. The pig progresses forward using it’s snout to “root” about in the slop in a forward direction before moving. Not sure there is much validity to this premise and it may cause you to lose your appetite unless you’re big into pork chops.

Whatever your New Year’s tradition I wish for you a safe celebration and a blessed prosperous New Year. From the words of Auld Lang Syne one of the less known verses says

Picking Daisies

“We too have run about the slopes and picked the daisies fine; but we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.” May you have a kick in your step in the coming year, may the daisies bloom beautifully. May the lawn mower work when it’s supposed to, and may you have a “root” awakening. Most of all I hope you’re like the lovers in the Dan Fogelberg song who “laugh until they cry.”

I had a friend send me some words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the other day that are perfect for those of us who have disappointment in their past, and who doesn’t, so I’ll share these words. “Nor deem the irrevocable past as wholly wasted, wholly vain if, rising on its wrecks, at last to something nobler we attain.”

Oh Christmas Tree!

Due to a decrease in hydrostatic water pressure in the needles as they transpire the tree “pulls” water upward through the xylem to re-hydrate the tree. The same applies to trees and plants in your landscape. The big difference of course is that the Christmas tree in your living room has no roots to reach out.

You have to reach out and provide the water to your tree so the “FMC” does not drop to unacceptable levels at which point “yule” have to reach for a vacuum cleaner. FMC is Foliage Moisture Content. Make a fresh cut on the bottom of Christmas tree and immediately place it in water. When you get a wound your body begins to clot and scab the wound naturally. The tree does the same with sap at the cut which in turn inhibits or cuts off moisture flow through the tree.

When the “FMC” drops below 25% needles will drop and the tree may no longer draw water even though it is sitting in water. The greater the water pickup results in higher foliage moisture content which also provides the best ignition resistance.

Go Green!

Trees with a high “FMC” tend to self-extinguish versus a dry tree with low “FMC” can go up like a torch if subjected to an ignition source. Light up your holidays the right way and get long lasting fragrance and beauty from your tree by making a fresh cut, put the tree immediately in water and keep the water bowl full until you remove the tree after the holidays. Placing a fishing bobber or ping pong ball in the water will help you see at a glance the water level in the bowl. Pay attention to your tree’s “FMC” and it will make all your Christmas “Greens” come true!

Today many are familiar with the chestnuts roasting Christmas song but few roast or make them part of their holiday diet.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

The resurgence of the tree and the interest in the nuts have spurred alternate uses including holiday cheer. I noticed Michigan chestnuts are used in a Jolly Pumpkin Stone Special Holiday Ale along with white sage from California and Norwegian Juniper berries. Another Michigan produced ale uses chestnuts in a gluten free brew. Cheers! A lot more fun than having Jack Frost nipping at your nose.

The Chestnut and Chestnut trees have a long and interesting history. In an interview I did with author Diana Wells and her book ‘Lives of Trees’ she said years ago the nutritious nuts were dried and ground and stored in a drawer giving rise to the French expression “living out of a drawer” or being poor. Another expression lits de parlement or “talking beds” referred to chestnut leaves being used as mattress stuffing and the rustling noise when you turned over. It is estimated in the 1800′s every fourth tree along the eastern half of the country was a Chestnut tree. Fortunately plant pathologists are developing blight resistant replicas of the original tree so we can enjoy American chestnuts said to be tastier than their European and Asian counterparts. Today in a breeding technique called back-crossing an American Chestnut is crossed with a Chinese Chestnut. The resulting tree is crossed again and again until the only characteristic of the Chinese tree left is it’s blight resistance.

Roasting chestnuts is a romantic holiday experience….provided you score the nuts before roasting. If you don’t score them you will have a memorable experience of exploding smoking missile projectiles…not romantic but certainly memorable. You’ll also being eating healthy, chestnuts are low in calories, have less fat than many other nuts and could be considered a staple similar to potatoes or corn. They are also a good source of dietary fiber which gets my attention when trying to improve my cholesterol levels.

Thank goodness for the resurgence of the stately chestnut tree and the humble chestnut. A great comeback story of a nut that’s tough to crack.

Unbe-leaf-able resource!

Who doesn’t love the smell of fallen leaves and the crisp air of a sunny November day.

Well it appears many don’t use the resource in their own yards based on the lineup I saw at the yard waste recycle station the other day and the huge pile of leaves generated in a matter of days!

Yard Waste Leaf recycling

That’s OK, if you’re not into composting or fine mulching leaves into your turf or into piling them into a leaf lasagna. You’re doing the right thing by recycling the leaves with your neighbors at the municipal recycle yard.

A natural resource or burning memories?

But it caused me to think of my younger days when people would rake the leaves to the curb and light them on fire. The smokey haze would block out the sun and street lights at times and create an eerie atmosphere. We thought nothing of it and rode our bikes through the smoldering piles of wet smoking leaves. Thank goodness and fortunately today we compost and mulch our leaves and do not burn them……but some reminisce of the aroma and the haunting haze when we were kids…..to the point you can buy a burning leaves cologne.

I decided to test whether or not others had the same smoky memories in their past and was surprised by the amount of responses on a Facebook post.

Smoky Memories

It “leafs” me speechless the number of people who miss the aroma and haze of neighborhood piles of foliage belching smoke into the sky. Quite amazing that these childhood recollections of torched leaves have been burnt into the memories of those 40 years and older. Here is a sampling of some of the many comments people made on Facebook:

“I remember hot smoldering piles of leaves with foil wrapped baked potatoes cooking inside them…… LOVE the smell of burning leaves!…… So would a burning leaves cologne leave you “hot under the collar”? …….One of the best childhood memories…… I miss that smell everywhere you went…… While burning the leaves we would take an apple, take out the core, put in a couple of marshmellows, wrap it in tinfoil and throw it in the fire. Soon we had a hot apple delight! It was GREAT!!…….. I am allergic to tree mold. I can barely breathe. I have headaches Bring back the smoke. you can stay in the house when someone is burning…….. 

Leaf Mountain

My husband Dave takes great joy in burning what he doesn’t compost or turn over into the garden late at night, it looks like a pagan ritual……Love the smell. Inherent, due to my age…….The smoke does contain a carcinogen…….. It’s almost a polarizing topic among people however I believe most would agree that it’s a good thing we mulch and recycle our leaves today and don’t burn them………. We burned leaves for years…I think we turned out ok. That smell is the tell-tale sign of fall. If someone wants to come over and take my leaves and recycle them…you’re invited!!!……… What a great memory!! We have lots of leaves..but unfortunately the govt at this level prohibits us to burn it! please bring back the old days!……… Funny you should mention burning leaves…my husband just mentioned it saying, ‘man, I wish we could burn leaves again.’ Growing up on the east side of the state, I don’t recall anyone in my neighborhood burning leaves so I’m w/o such aromatic memories………. I love that smell it has been a very long time since…… Yes I do remember. My dad would have MSU football on the radio, nothing like burning leaves.“

See what I mean? A polarizing topic burnt into the memories of those of us old enough to remember the crazy hazy days of November past.

Piles of Leaves

Plantman crosses the finish line

Thank you Alger Heights neighborhood for hosting the Halloween run on a sunny late October Saturday morning! Entre-manure superhero Plantman enjoyed his run fighting “grime” in your town…..thank you very mulch!

This looks like a job for Plantman

Permission to buzz the tower? Negative Ghostrider....the pattern is full. Maverick and Plantman....