Meteorologist Dave Epstein is our go-to person for pressing weather questions on everything from winter blizzards to summer droughts. He’s also a horticulturist, meaning he’s an expert on anything that grows leaves and flowers. GBH's Morning Edition asked you, our audience, for your weather and gardening questions, and Dave graciously answered them on the air Wednesday morning. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Have a gardening or weather question for meteorologist Dave Epstein? Tweet him @GrowingWisdom, email us at thewakeup@wgbh.org, or text 617-300-2008.

What’s in the forecast for Boston and eastern Massachusetts this week?

Royals in town. A presidential visit Friday. And wind — lots of wind.

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“There may be a little bit of drizzle developing during the day today, especially along the coastline,” Epstein said. “You may just see some dampness in the air. Winds start to pick up.”

Temperatures are rising from a morning low in the 30s or 40s, depending on the area, to close to 60, and winds will be gusting at 30 mph, he said.

Rain will roll in between 6 and 10 p.m., he said.

“It's a heavy downpour. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the rumble of thunder. And then winds continue to howl all night long,” Epstein said. “Tonight, winds could get up to 50 miles an hour, and that can create some scattered power outages.”

It likely won’t be “crazy-damaging,” Epstain said. But it may be smart to secure any outdoor Christmas decorations that could blow away, like inflatables and large signs.

A cold front is approaching the area Wednesday night, Epstein said. That means highs in the 40s Thursday and Friday, with clear skies.

“It's a pretty strong front actually, moving through here overnight tonight. And that's going to usher in colder air for tomorrow,” he said.

When are droughts more problematic?

Significantly lower-than-average precipitation does more harm to plants in the spring and summer, Epstein said. Plants lose moisture through their leaves, which means the leafier, greener summer months require more precipitation.

But that doesn’t mean dry winter months are harmless.

“It would definitely be more serious in the summer months because the plants are transpiring a lot more moisture at that point,” he said. “But, you know, you don't want a drought in the winter either, especially for evergreens.”

Deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in the fall, tend to do al lright in drier winters, especially if they have a strong root system already.

“But something like a rhododendron, or some of the azaleas which keep their leaves, or hollys — They lose moisture all winter long,” Epstein said. “And so if you don't have any moisture in the ground, you can see some damage on those things.”

How do you prepare your garden for winter?

Epstein said he spent some time this week covering his Russian red kale with greenhouse plastic, which protects it from the elements while still letting in some sunlight.

“It's a fairly hardy kale,” he said. “And by covering it and not exposing it to a lot of snow and a lot of moisture, the ground actually dries out a little bit and the kale kind of goes into a suspended animation for the next two months.”

Once the amount of daily sunlight starts significantly increasing — around February, at the start of solar spring — temperatures under the greenhouse plastic will rise and reawaken the kale plants.

“It heats up under there and it starts to regrow,” Epstein said. “And so I'll start getting new kale pretty early and be eating fresh kale by March.”