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Intensity of frost in different areas

Posted by paulsiu 5a (My Page) on
Sat, May 19, 12 at 23:44

I recently visited a garden center a few weeks ago and I notice some of the ferns look dead. I asked what happened and they said it was frost damage. I was surprised. It was cold last month, but the temperature didn't dip that low. None of my plants were frost damaged, not even the cannas.

The lady said that each yard is a microclimate. In my yard it was probably protected by the trees. What factors actually protects frost from a yard.

Paul


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Intensity of frost in different areas

Certain factors help prevent frost: wind & rain are two of them. Also, I have my seedlings on a deck. The deck is a dark brown color. The dark color absorbs more heat - thus less likely to get frost. My property is on a slope. So my garden is uphill from the house. The garden tends to get hit with frost first. There have been days when the garden was hit with frost, but the deck (150 feet down the slope) has not. The slope isn't anything crazy either.


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RE: Intensity of frost in different areas

moving from flat suburbia.. to hilly country... i found the
cold air falls [gravity and all that].. down into my low spots.. and i can have damage low.. and no damage high .. and i am only talking 8 to 10 feet

so that would include air movement ...

i also have a theory of all the pavement in suburbia 'holding heat' .. as compared to soil ... an i can have significant damage.. but i drive thru town with paved streets and parking lots.. and they simply dont have the same impact ...

dont forget heat sinks like lakes also ...

ken


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RE: Intensity of frost in different areas

There is a full 10 to 14 days difference in bloom period from my home to the town where I work about 12 miles away. observed by watching common stuff like daffodils, lilacs, dandelions.

I live a mile and half from a main road. Turning from the main road onto my road I can watch the snowbanks grow, no ruler involved. Temp the car is reading will drop 3 to 6 degrees just going a mile and half. Nice in July and August. Stinks big time January thru May.


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RE: Intensity of frost in different areas

and you can have two plants next to each other.. one damaged.. one not..

and i refer to that as the vagaries of mother nature ...

ken


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RE: Intensity of frost in different areas

For the past decade, I've been making observations (just mentally) regarding frost and sun exposure. One is that a lot of leaves are not damaged by frost when other leaves are because they thawed before the the sun hit them. The same type plant that is in shade until 10 am might be unscathed while its' twin in a spot that sees the sunrise (and has no discernible difference regarding micro-climate features) is damaged. I'm certainly no scientist but I suspect the more gradual thaw can make a difference, and UNscientific observation has offered support of this. Anyone else notice this happening or NOT happening?


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