I dug up some carrots yesterday because the greens were turning black and rotting from the rain. They were big under the ground though. Big--like 7 inches. What's going to happen if all the greens rot. Will the carrots still grow underground? I would love it they could continue to grow bigger. My onions are huge and beautiful. Since they grew so big from all the rain, I'll prolly have them last until next summer. Last year they were so small, they hardly lasted through early winter. They were pitiful and small. All the brassica is producing except for one deformed cauliflour head. Not one single cabbage worm this year. I gave up on my tomatoes and low and behold I started getting red ones this week. Since I got blight, I am happy for atleast some. They are super late and its a race now with the rain and time. Will I be able to pick more soon or will the fungus take them over before I could eat them? It's like playing the lottery. Cukes are growing big from all the rain. It's time to do a test dig of the potatoes and see if they're still alright under all that dirt. I am hoping the rain has made them big as whoppers this year. Leeks are reacting to the excess rain like the onions. I was told they would only get pencil size but they are fat like my thumbs. String beans are out of control producing 3 lbs per week. So far the only diseases is the blight tomatoes. Even the Jap beetles went away prolly due to all the rain. Some zuchini is still coming in but production has slowed and the slugs are back so got to keep laying the Sluggo regularly. All in all, the excess rain is actually helping the yield this year, except for the toms. Plus I hardly need to water and that saves the pump from running hours per day. Do I want more rain? NO. Please make it stop. We have no summer and only used the pool once this year so far. How much worse can it get?

Marda, To answer your question, you're not dreaming. The event you're remembering was the Children's Blizzard of 1888. The children died in South Dakota, I believe, where the temperature dropped from a few degrees above freezing to something like -20F in a matter of a couple of hours. There's a book on the subject with the same title that I read a couple of years ago. Digging back into my memory bank from when I took meteorology in college, the whole area of the American plains has what is called a Continental climate which basically means extremely low temperatures in the winter & extremely hot temperatures in the summer. There is very little there to block weird movements of low & high pressure systems that can cause these extreme variations in temperatures that can happen with frightening swiftness. George, I'm glad that you didn't lose any trees & the biggest inconvenience you experienced was a loss of power for a while.

I sounds like the plant was mistreated before you bought it and had been allowed to dry out. A grayish white, powdery coating or fuzzy white growth on upper or lower surfaces is Powdery Mildew (Microsphaera azaleae). This is more prevalent on deciduous azaleas and sometimes it affects the lower surface more. Entire leaves can be covered. In late summer and fall, small black specks may be found in the white areas. Powdery mildew is more severe on shaded plants. It is favored by the high humidity found in crowded plantings and damp locations. The disease is more severe during periods of cool, moist weather. These fungi produce spores on the surface of the infected leaves which are spread by wind currents to surrounding leaf tissue. These fungi over-winter in the bud scales for initiation of infection next season. There are a number of ways to manage this disease. * Do not overwater or overfertilize plants, as the fungus prefers succulent new growth. * Hand-pick and destroy mildewed leaves to control small amounts of infection. * Hose diseased plants with water when practical. This can help remove fungus and prevent new infections. * Prune and space plantings to allow good air circulation. Do not plant in extremely shaded or damp areas. * Rake and destroy fallen leaves year-round to reduce infection source. Do not compost diseased materials. You need to know what kind of an azalea it is. If it is a deciduous azalea, then it will probably overwinter OK if given some protection. If it is an evergreen azalea, then it is probably a house plant and should be brought in for the winter. Azaleas have two very important requirements. They like acidic soil and very well drained soil. When grown outside it is good to mulch them since the roots are very shallow and do not respond well to weeds or weeding or wide temperature changes in winter or the heat of the summer sun. A mulch layer helps guard against these things. Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow azaleas and their problems.

I used the type of feeder mentioned earlier that has a spring to close the ports when a squirrel gets onto the feeder. (Bought mine at Lowe's; about $22.) Worked wonderfully for the 3-4 years I used it in western PA, even though we were at the edge of a woods and had squirrels galore that tried to get into it. Then we moved to a small town in central OH and I put it up there. Stinkin' squirrels first chewed the plastic off the top part to get at the seed until it got too low for them to reach--then they'd just knock the thing to the ground so the seed would fall out and they would stuff their little selves. Guess Ohio rodents are smarter or more determined than PA ones. I gave up after the first winter, so now the birds do not get fed--though the squirrels still stay fat on the acorns and black walnuts from the trees in our yard! I really miss the goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches...