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The winter of no winter
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Posted by
melissa_thefarm NItaly (
My Page) on
Wed, Feb 12, 14 at 23:10
As I once snippily remarked to my sister-in-law, he who marvels at the weather will always have something to marvel at. But this has been a surprising winter. We haven't had one so far, and with temperatures forecast to stay well above freezing for the next two weeks, it looks like winter may never come at all. It has hardly touched down to freezing since Christmas; my lemon verbena and Salvia guaranitica have kept their top growth--usually they die back to the ground--and the latter is blooming. It has also rained enormously--I never saw a wetter winter--but that weather pattern looks like it may finally be breaking up and giving way to alternations between rain and sun.
Usually we start to see the first spring flowers arriving around the end of February: this year they're a couple of weeks early. Primroses and Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' have been in bloom for a while, and the violets and snow crocuses are starting to open. The white Lady Banks has buds on it...geez. Usually it comes into bloom around the end of April. The China roses and 'Mme. Jules Bouch�' have never entirely stopped flowering, a thing I've never seen before, though their blooms have a ghostly air. All this is very odd and unseasonal and makes me hope that summer's not going to be a month early as well, though that's for the future. I must say it is pretty. Yesterday I decided to trust the weather forecast and begin pruning my warm climate climbers, a task usually reserved for March.
We haven't lived here that long: twelve years. That's not much time for knowing what the weather's like. Climate change may enter into it somewhat, but I think the weather has always been more variable than my mind will readily admit. I know what the averages are and I expect the weather to stick to them, and it doesn't. As I tell my husband, God doesn't read the weather report. This "anomalous" year will go into my mental files, along with last winter's endless snows and month-late arrival of spring, and the three weeks of temperatures in the teens of two or three winters ago. It's all part of the picture. It's all normal.
Melissa |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: The winter of no winter
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| I'm glad you at least got some rains, Melissa. It's been quite warm, sunny, windy, arid and almost no rain here in Los Angeles. We won't run out of water here this year, but it's going to be MUCH more costly and there are always the next few years when scarcity, unless things change dramatically, will surely worsen. I'm seeing plants perform as expected, only two to four months earlier than "normal". Scary stuff. Good luck! Kim |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| Its just the opposite here. This is the coldest winter we've had in 20 years & our snow fall amounts are a little above of average so far. |
RE: The winter of no winter
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- Posted by seil z6b MI (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 13, 14 at 15:53
| We had a "no winter" winter 2010/11. It was nice because I had roses the first week of May instead of June. The 2012/13 winter wasn't too bad but hung on and on for dear life and we didn't get bloom until late in June. This year is a record breaker in both low temps and snowfalls. It will be interesting to see when the roses bloom. |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| Hot and dry here, over 80 degrees, and I don't think it's normal because there hasn't been a winter here like this since they began keeping records in 1865. It's beginning to be difficult not to give in to depression as there is no relief in sight. At least northern California is doing better. I'm beginning to wonder what the "spring flush" will be like this year, after the lousy one last spring, and the last winter was not as bad as this one, at least not in terms of temperatures. Ingrid |
RE: The winter of no winter
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- Posted by hoovb z9 Southern CA (My Page) on
Fri, Feb 14, 14 at 0:02
| It was 87F (30C) here today. :^( |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| Nasty! It was about that here today, too, Hoov. Same predicted for tomorrow, with about fourteen degree drop for Saturday. I'm ready! Kim |
RE: The winter of no winter
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Actually, this is turning into something of a shocker with results I have never before seen in my gardening life. Yellowing grasses, dying because they are practically anaerobic, impossible to even stand on the soil, let alone plant anything (and I am not even in the main flood zone where entire towns are under water).
Trees are falling, left right and centre, the ground is utterly saturated everywhere, rail services down, power lines down....and yet another savage storm on its way. For sure, we have had no snow (but this is not a blessing) but worse (for me) is the fact that I have no work (hence no money). We have already eaten into our pet emergency fund (I always have a pot of money for vets bills).....and may even have the humiliation of food banks if this keeps up.
To be honest, I am too demoralised to care......although I am on automatic around my house garden (which has hard standing) and there is the (small) consolation of new seedlings appearing every day.
Normally, this would be a time of much excitement, planning the summer, waiting for the little seeds to germinate........might just be today but I am thinking of going back to bed! |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| I will gladly ship you our winter. So much snow in my yard that I'm afraid to even walk in it for fear of never being seen again. Okay maybe not that much but there is still a lot. It might get to 50 this weekend so I might see my yard again. |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| Campanula, I keep hearing about all the rain you have been getting. I didn’t realize it continues on and is that bad that trees are falling and grass is yellowing, just when spring arrives. We WILL get a change of all this weather, hopefully sooner than later. I wonder if you could have a plant sale using some of your seedlings? Tomato/Pepper seedlings are so popular in spring. Maybe after the next storm is over it will dry out enough to do something like that while you are waiting for the ground to dry out. You will still get a summer and have tons of seedlings and since there is nothing you can do about the rain, you may as well start planning your garden and distract yourself with your usually happy and satisfying activities. Hang in there…. |
RE: The winter of no winter
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So much bad weather everywhere. Suzy, I think Italy has been getting the tail end of your dreadful wet: our weather is like yours, but not as severe. Still it has been a VERY rainy winter (and fall before that). Our farmer neighbors had a huge slide in the field below a part of our garden, overflowing into the road below. The badly cash-strapped township has been sending out an earth-mover every day or two to clear the road. They didn't need the extra expense.
I'm sorry for all this nasty weather all over. Ours was tiresome, very tiresome, and so much darkness put me in a painful mood for quite a while around the holidays. But, while it's a month and a half early (not good), spring has sprung and I must say it's beautiful. I certainly am not used to seeing roses setting buds and the Salvia guaranitica flowering this time of year. In a normal year it goes from killed to the ground to having eight foot stems, and it's quite interesting to think about what it may turn into this year when it hasn't had any dieback. Monsters aren't in it.
You'll survive this year too, somehow, Suzy, and everybody else who's had a really hard winter. Good luck to you all! I hope spring, and the weather you long for, comes soon!
Melissa |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| Campanula - our nightly news on TV here is even showing pictures of English villages under water every night - this has been going on for weeks and weeks! They said that this is more rain than anytime in the last 200 years there - that is quite amazing. Of course, when that sort of thing happens it turns out that the infrastructure is not up to it, but how could it be? Glad to hear that you are not in the main flood zone, but it sounds bad enough where you are. So frustrating that while you are drowning in too much water, CA is in the worst drought in recorded history (which here is only about 150 years). No Cal did get some good rain, but only North of the SF Bay - the rest of the state is still in a terrible drought, including the central valley, which normally produces 30-40% of the food for the entire country. It is 100% irrigated (they used to call it the "great California desert" on the maps in the early 19th century). Not now - the large irrigation projects have turned off the water to farmers (because they don't have any). So, food prices will be going up a lot. This too, will pass, but I wish both circumstances would hurry up and pass! Jackie |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| I am planting more veggies this year than usual. The price of food will rise in the drought. I enjoyed our 2 weeks of winter and too bad it left us so soon. Poor athletes in Sochi are having problems with the warm air as well. The best skiers are racing on mushy snow. The only upside is that without rain, the camellias are opening perfect blooms and not one bud failing to open due to getting too wet. I was climbing around in the tree hanging some large epies that have grown too heavy to hang on the eaves. They look grand in the Jacaranda tree. |
RE: The winter of no winter
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| I can agree with the heading. No winter here either, the little snow we had is long gone but it rains a little today. Temperatures constantly vary between 35 and 40 F. Hardly any wind, no sun, grey and dull. Snowdrops are blooming, crocuses show colour and trees and shrubs are budding. Quite unusual and dangerous because I'm afraid the cold will strike in March like last year. Without snow cover my roses will freeze again. But my husband is optimistic because the Baltic is not frozen and he trusts the open sea will keep the air warm. |
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