Weather Chat - 2023

blown_dry

A few hard frosts lately, but spring is taking hold for sure.

AKWindWatcher

Won't be until April here. That's breakup season. We'll start seeing warmer temps in March but April is the "wash your car once a week, maybe twice a week" month. The sun has started to have some warmth to it though and we're gaining over 5 minutes of daylight a day.

Dahlia53

AKWindWatcher Erika, how long are your days at peak summer solstice up there? Ours in NW WA are about 17hrs i think.

It's already too warm here for early feb. - days in the 50s, i've had windows open for a few weeks. trees starting to bloom already; worried about food and nectar for the early bees and overwintering hummingbirds. Don't want any more Arctic storms, but it'd be nice if it remained cold enough to stall things blooming til March! Days noticeably longer on both ends.

blown_dry

Yeah, it's wild how one can have another hour of daylight within 10 days. I'm assuming the gain starts to plateau before heading back the other direction?

Krista

Dahlia53 Yes, the warm temps here in NW WA are mischievously enticing me to get started planting spring-things outdoors far too early.

AKWindWatcher

Dahlia53 - it honestly doesn't get dark. From about May to the end of July the darkest it gets is twilightish. It's not uncommon for me to be out gardening at 1 or 2 AM. We start getting some dark, dark - for just a few hours - in August. Right now we're gaining over 5 1/2 minutes of light per day. Spring is still a long way off though. Have over 6 feet of snow at it was below zero this morning. I had my driveway scraped down yesterday so that when things do start to melt, I don't have to 4x4 my way in from the main road. Scraper found the steps to my front porch. One of the steps did not survive the experience. 🙂

edewitt

2 days ago it was 60°. Today it's barely going to get above freezing and it's snowing. This climate's almost as weird as Boise's, just quite a bit less of the extremes.

KitCMC

❄🌨🌬

calico20hill

What a beautiful fence line...even in the snow it looks lovely!

KitCMC

calico20hill thanks! We just put those in this past season. The lot behind us sold so we wanted to get going on an evergreen screen ASAP. Winter interest is an important consideration around here.

Krista

KitCMC I agree, this is beautiful. What are the low plants on the near side of the fence; will they grow into a hedge over time?

KitCMC

Krista thanks! Yes, they’re boxwood. I think I’ll eventually make a hedge, but I am kind of liking the spheres. It’s hard to tell, but there is about 3 feet between the boxwoods and the fence, so I’ll plant pretty things behind them. Definitely some dahlias, but probably not exclusively.

Krista

KitCMC Oh how nice, yes I’m finding the little spheres pleasing too. It’s wonderful that the early stage of this long term plan is so enjoyable. I love your idea for dahlias between them and the fence too, it looks like you’ll have room for lots. 🤗

calico20hill

Krista I am remembering an old dahlia friend who had such a bad time with spidermites that lived in a neighbors hedge like thisand infested her dahlia garden. Something to keep an eye on and treat immediately if you find them....

edewitt

calico20hill Azamax worked real well for me but it was only on a couple of plants. They're really hard to spot until you see the tiny webs start forming.

KitCMC

calico20hill

edewitt

This is good to know ahead of time, thank you! I may plant a few of my less precious tubers there and see how it goes.
I’ve never used Azamax, but anything that eliminates spider mites is excellent to know about! They are the worst.

Teddahlia

Dawn in Oregon City.

Teddahlia

We may get a minor snow event tomorrow morning. We have had quite a few nights that went into the low 20s this year but it almost always warmed to above freezing during the day. My storage area for the tubers and pot tubers was never even close to freezing any tubers this year.

calico20hill

Teddahlia

Looking like not a great night for attending PDS monthly meeting in person which I was hoping to do. We are supposed to get an ice storm tonight with temps down to 24 degrees tomorrow night. Darn, not driving through that to get to the meeting and home! I was hoping to go. MY tubers should be in the garage. I did check all my tubers this week and have some out to pot up so I will have to protect them.

SteveM

It looks like we have an unusual chance for freezing tomorrow night. They are predicting 35F , but that is too close for comfort. I will be moving most cuttings and mother plants into the barn tomorrow night. I can't remember the last time we had a freeze in February.