Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 10, 1992                   TAG: 9203100185
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHELLE RILEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DON'T PUT THAT PARKA AWAY JUST YET

With less than two weeks left in one of the warmest winters since weather records have been kept in Roanoke, the region is in for a series of cold fronts that will bring temperatures to near-record lows through Sunday.

The coldest temperatures will come Wednesday and Thursday nights, with lows in the 20s and possibly the high teens, said Jan Jackson, the meteorological technician at Roanoke Regional Airport.

That could cause problems for some peach orchards, where trees are beginning to bloom.

"The drastic change [in the temperature] is what's so hard," said Paul Grisso, owner of Mountain Top Orchards in Roanoke County.

But, Grisso said, it all depends on how cold it gets and for how long. "You could get the same temperatures and the same bud maturity and still get different results," he said.

Most peach and apple trees should suffer no serious damage, because they are not in full bloom.

And if daytime temperatures stay around the 40s for the next few weeks, it could help the trees.

"This kind of weather really wakes them up," Grisso said.

At many homes, gardeners who took advantage of the warm weather to plant may be worrying about their work going to waste during the cold snap. But Roanoke County extension horticulture technician Jacqui Brown said that most of the plants that are up now are used to the weather.

Brown said cabbage, broccoli, bulb plants, shrubs and grass all should be planted about now and all are conditioned to cold weather.

"It's not going to kill any plants, but it will hurt flowers that are out," like daffodils, she said.

If the temperatures do go below the 20s, Brown said plants should be covered with a blanket or bushel basket to make sure they are protected.

Flowers that already have bloomed can be covered as well, she said, but "I'll probably pick most of my daffodils and enjoy them as a bouquet inside."