What a bizarre September and October, for me, I experienced my first Earthquake and Hurricane, but it was the last natural disaster (of sorts) that seemed to, in our neck of the woods, do the most damage. Significant snowfall (particularly heavy WET snowfall) can apparently eclipse both hurricane and earthquake in terms of destructive force if the timing is right. In this case the time was most certainly right. So many of our customers lost power for days and in some case longer than a week. We sold more firewood than we could’ve imagined in a very short period of time which was good for business, but at the same time it had the effect of ending the fall planting season a bit early as people focused on more pressing issues. With the dust now settled it is clear that MANY MANY established landscape plants and in particular trees were damaged or completely destroyed. Species such as Red Maple Acer Rubrum, Japanese Maple Acer Palmatum, Callery Pear (Bradford Pear) Pyrus Calleryana, and many others were severely damaged as heavy snow collected on leaves that had not yet fallen. As a lover of plants it was sad to see some beautiful specimens ruined.
Lions Head Japanese Maple
We’ve already had some customers come in looking for large replacement plants for those that were damaged and in some cases now (although the window is closing fast) is a great time to replace them, but if you prefer to wait you can take your time and pick something unique as the next focal point for your landscape. This is the time of the year when we as buyers can find almost anything and have it for you for Spring. See something at an arboretum that you loved and wished you had a space for? Give us a call or stop in. In all likelihood we can get that plant for you. If you prefer to shop from stock we will have some unique trees for spring that we haven’t stocked in many years and some others in larger sizes. Just as a taste I already have on order some Fringe Tree, Seven Son Flower, Katsura, Carolina Silverbell, as well as new varieties of Magnolia, Japanese Maple, Dogwood, Cherry, and Crabapple.
Katsura Tree with Fall Color
