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Re: [nafex] More Musings on Coldest Nov-Dec on Record
In northern NH's Zone 3, things progressed normally for a cool summer, i.e.,
Transparent, Paula Red and other apples usually ripe by or before Labor Day were
ripening after Labor Day, anywhere form two to three weeks later than normally.
Wild blueberries went on from late July 'til frost. The fall foliage of native
trees was not as early as I've noticed on other occasions of a cool summer, but
it came on suddenly and was over quickly. I noticed more the wet weather as it
affects my horse business so directly.
For about five years I wrote down the low temp. everyday from first frost to
spring. I did not do this in '99/'00 or '00/'01. It is normal here on river
bottom land to have -45F at least once per winter. In '96 we had -47F one
morning and it went up to 45F the following evening! Imagine a variation of that
extreme in the summer! So far this year, as it said in the article, NH has not
been typical. We've had our share of cold, but have not experienced any real
extremes (-16F lowest so far). This happened in '97/'98 when our low for the
winter was only -20F once, on Jan. 1, '98. It feels strange to be in a
comparatively mild area for a change this year. I can relate to what everyone
else is going through except that when you have those temps normally, you are
prepared for it and I'm afraid most areas had no way of expecting this cold
winter when the flap has been all about global warming.
About your tea roses though Doreen, my condolences, unless you found a way to
winter them in a root cellar or other safe place. They were my very favorite
garden project until I moved north. I have never been really successful in the
many ways I have tried to save them from one season to another. We have a rose
that does well in this area that is not a native nor is it a rugosa or
everblooming type.
I think it's great that you are so observant about your environment and climate.
If you get bummed out with the long winter, I have lots of helpful ideas to help
get through 'til spring....vic
Doreen Howard wrote:
> About the harsh November-December weather that Victoria Caron commented on:
>
> I am new to Wisconsin, one of the areas the bore the brunt of the
> record-breaking non-stop snow and cold temperatures, having moved here last
> April. The summer was cold by my standards, but the natives kept telling me
> that it was fairly normal. I’m an observer of nature and started noticing
> the following:
>
> 1. At the end of July, the native trees such as sugar maples and Ohio
> buckeyes began to color. By Aug. 20, the sugar maples were in full
> color—deep, flaming orange. On a trip to Cantigney Gardens in suburban
> Chicago on Aug. 10, I saw buckeyes at 50 percent of color.
> 2. On a trip to Peoria, IL on Aug. 23, I traveled along the Illinois River
> and saw sumac, more Ohio buckeyes, sugar maples, quaking aspens and pin oaks
> with color. Along the river, the color was most pronounced.
> 3. I contacted peers in Des Moines, IA, Minneapolis and Jacksonville, IL and
> asked for their foliage status in August. In Minneapolis, the sugar maples
> were in full color by Aug. 15, and in Des Moines by the end of August. Jill
> Vorbeck in Jacksonville reported that they didn’t have color at the end of
> August, even though she is only about 90 south of Peoria. BTW, the
> Springfield-Jacksonville, IL area had less severe temperatures and less snow
> than we did in the Upper Midwest.
> 4. By Labor Day, southern Wisconsin—from Madison south to the Illinois
> border was at 33 percent of peak fall color—with all the sugar maples and
> other native varieties in full color and starting to drop leaves.
> 5. The height of foliage season was extremely prolonged. It seemed like the
> trees were holding on to color longer than normal. Widespread drop did not
> start until Oct. 1. The sandhill cranes, ducks and geese were gone by the
> last week in September.
> 6. In my fruit garden, the cornus mas, two kinds of grapes and 4 kinds of
> blueberries started producing fat fruit buds in mid-July. By mid-August,
> buds were pronounced and fully hardened. By mid-September, the plants
> experienced their first hard freeze, and instead of coloring their leaves,
> they dropped them. Ones that did remain on the plants browned, instead of
> reddening. They remained on the plants until the first heavy snow Nov. 16.
> I have 33 roses—from hybrid teas to rugosas to antiques—and none of them
> produced red foliage, which they should have done.
> 7. We had our first snow of Oct. 6—just flurries, but it started a pattern
> of low temperatures day and night. At this point, non-native trees—those
> introduced to the area via the nursery trade, etc—started to color their
> leaves. Up to this point, they were the only ones without colorful fall
> foliage.
> 8. The snows started in the first week of November, and all the non-native
> trees, including ornamental maples such as Japanese ones and hybrids popular
> in the landscape trade, were caught with foliage still on them. In fact,
> the Shumard oaks (planted in the neighborhood by developers) and a gingko
> across the street still retain their colored foliage. I don’t know if this
> is normal, but it seems like the trees got caught short by the season here,
> because their internal triggers are geared for warmer climates.
>
> My points are that the native trees were solid indicators to the coming
> weather—normal or abnormal. Introduced species, including fruit bushes and
> trees, are not. What do you think? And, what did you observe?
> Doreen Howard
> Janesville, WI, Zone 4b, still with a couple feet of snow on the ground