Plant

People with old boxwoods are being warned not to plant new boxwoods nearby, but what about those of us with no boxwoods who want some? They're so deer-resistant. The new and highly contagious boxwood blight disease has made it unwise, for the present, to introduce new, possibly infected plants into a landscape with old boxwood, especially historic boxwood. In your case, buying locally or Southern--grown boxwood would be the safest bet. Keep in mind that boxwood blight can infect both native and Japanese pachysandra as well as sweetbox (Sarcococca)

Some Annapolis lawmakers have gotten in the Easter spirit a little early.  A bill that would curtail millions in renewable-energy subsidies for mostly out-of-state paper mills comes to the Senate floor Monday, after being killed last week and then revived with a special deal for Maryland's only paper-making plant. The bill, SB684 , pushed by environmentalists, would phase out the ability of paper facilities to cash in on Maryland's renewable energy law by burning "black liquor," a tarry byproduct of the pulping process, and other wood waste to power their operations.

Impatience for spring is growing, but impatiens are not. The nation's top-selling annual flower - favored for its last-frost-to-first-frost profusion of colorful blooms - has been struck by a killer mildew that can be carried by the wind and lingers in the soil. "Impatiens have been a sure thing for years and years," said Cornell plant pathologist Margery Daughtrey. "Now they are risky. " Found in just about every state east of the Mississippi and with no cure, impatiens downy mildew, which hides on the underside of the plant's leaves, has put growers and retailers in a tough spot: Take the vulnerable plant and big-time seller off the shelves to protect the unsuspecting customer from a disappointing garden experience?

The soil test on my garden says the pH is 6.7. I need to find out what plants grow in that pH. Congratulations. Your soil pH is in the ideal range that most plants like — slightly acid. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 as neutral. Numbers above 7 are alkaline, and numbers below 7 are acid. Each number increases exponentially to the 10th power. Thus, a 6 pH is 10 times more acidic than 7 pH; and 5 pH is 100 times more acidic than 7 pH. Soil pH determines the availability of nutrients to plant roots.

For all the hysteria generated by climate-change deniers over how reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be disastrous for consumers and the economy, Maryland and the other eight states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are demonstrating that it isn't. The decision announced today to lower the cap on carbon dioxide by nearly 45 percent in those states should send a clear message to Washington that cap-and-trade can work. Since 2009, Maryland has been part of the RGGI coalition that limits greenhouse gas emissions by coal-fired power plants.

A consortium of Northeastern states including Maryland has agreed to reset a power plant emissions cap to current levels and to tighten it annually starting in 2015, an action officials said would increase investment in energy efficiency and slightly raise electricity prices, besides cutting pollution. The change amounts to a 45 percent reduction in the cap's ceiling, which has far exceeded actual pollution levels because of improved energy efficiency, increased renewable power generation, mild weather and the slumping economy.

Just two days away from its season opener against No. 6 Duke, No. 10 Denver still isn't sure which goalkeeper to start Saturday. The competition has boiled down to junior Jamie Faus and sophomore Ryan LaPlante, and coach Bill Tierney said he's contemplating giving playing time to both goalies over the next two or three weeks. “Everybody will tell you that you've got to develop your starting quarterback, that you've got to develop your point guard, and in this sport, you can only have one goalie.

Norman Meadow's commentary promoting nuclear power over wind energy as a solution to climate change leaves out serious unsolved problems that wind does not present ("Nuclear blows away wind," Feb. 1). Huge piles of highly radioactive waste are sitting all over the world in vulnerable spent fuel pools lacking containment structures or backup generators. The Japanese government was considering an evacuation of Tokyo in the event of an explosion at one. As we expand our reliance on nuclear power, we also expand this Achilles heel of the nuclear industry.

Now for a bit of good news - and from an environmental group at that. Drew Koslow, the Choptank Riverkeeper, reports that while walking the shore of Harris Creek in Talbot County, he saw an "amazing" abundance of oysters growing in the intertidal zone, inundated by water at high tide but exposed to the air at ebb. "You literally couldn't take a step without walking on oysters," Koslow said in a recent release by the Mid-Shore Riverkeeper Conservancy....

A trio of environmental groups warned Monday they would sue the operator of three coal-fired power plants in Maryland for allegedly discharging excessive amounts of nutrient pollution into Chesapeake Bay rivers and trying to mask their violations by transferring pollution "credits" among facilities. Food & Water Watch, the Patuxent Riverkeeper and the Potomac Riverkeeper contend that NRG Energy has been violating state-imposed pollution discharge limits for the past three years at its Chalk Point, Morgantown and Dickerson power plants.