LADYBUG SAYS... FREEZING WEATHER IS A REAL TEST FOR PLANTS

Long range weather forecasts often are as reliable as a politician's promises. Not always, though.

On Feb. 22, Earl Finkle, who does the weather for the Saturday morning Farm Report, gave his monthly long-range forecast.

He cautioned his viewers to beware the Ides of the Week of March 8. That week, he said, would bring heavy snow to the Plains states and freezing temperatures well down into the South.

So it was. The snows and frigid blast came right on schedule, and here in our area, we saw the temperature dip down into the low 20s. Heavy snow showers accompanied the freeze, leaving traces on the ground.

There had been two weeks of delightfully warm weather and then winter returned with a vengeance. All over town there were teepees of plastic and cloth, old bed sheets, beach towels, and whatever gardeners could put their hands on to cover their perishable plants.

Did this type of protection help? Sometimes "yes" and sometimes "no", depending upon the location, the stage of advanced development of the plants, and often the cold tolerance of the plants.

Many of the early flowering spring flowers that were blooming so large and magnificently, lay flat on the ground. Hybrid daffodils with unusually large flower heads and long stems were bent over and their stems were flattened, preventing any nourishment getting to the flower, and they never came up again.

Tender foliage of daylilies looked as if scalding water had been poured on them. Hybrid lilies, leaves of bleeding hearts, a few top leaves of iris, and some perennials all showed results of the cold weather. Many trees, including redbuds, golden rain trees, and some shrubs lost their new leaves. Some plants, such as tree peonies, pansies, and members of the succulent family came through quite well. We hope there will not be anymore testing of hardiness this year in our area.

The average vegetable gardener would not consider an extension ladder as a basic gardening tool. But Gordon Graham of Edmon, OK isn't the average gardener. Graham, who specializes in growing prize winning giant vegetable, uses an extension ladder to harvest his tomatoes.

In 1985, Graham grew a 52-foot high monster that broke the world record for the longest tomato plant. The next year, he beat his own record by 1 1/4 feet. Then, in 1987, he grew a 7 pound, 12-ounce tomato that still holds the record as the world's heaviest.

He attributes his success to "years of hard work and crazy experiments."

Mr. Graham always starts his own plants from seed, and transplants them into the garden much earlier than most gardeners. The plant that grew the world's heaviest tomato was transplanted outdoors a full two months before the last frost. He transplanted the plant into a trench that he had prepared the previous fall, and coiled an electric heating tape around the root ball to keep the soil warm. To protect the plant from freezing at night, he surrounded it with a "Wall O' Water" teepee, a season extending device that utilizes the heat retaining properties of water to protect plants from temperatures as low as 10 degrees.

To get a jump on the season, his efforts have also made him a two time winner of Gardener's Supply Company's Great Red Tomato Race. The Burlington, VT, gardening equipment catalog challenges gardeners nationwide to grow the earliest ripe tomato in their growing zone.

The Great Red Tomato Race draws hundreds of entries from the 11 growing zones around the country each year. Mr. Graham was the Zone 7 winner in 1989 and 1990, producing a ripe red tomato both years on May 1.

For those interested in trying to break Gordon's records, or simply in growing the biggest, earliest tomato in the neighborhood, Gardeners' Supply is offering Gordon's booklet "How to Grow Giant Tomatoes" free of charge.

To receive a free copy, along with a copy of their Spring Catalog, write to Gardeners Supply Company, 128 Intervale Road, Burlington, VT 05401. Ask for information packet 1011.