Here in
Southern Ontario we have had a mild dry winter. Only had to shovel twice
(tractor needs a doctor) and not too much even then,
So warmer then
usual and very little snow cover. Ground temperatures (5-6" below
ground) has been much colder then usual because of no snow cover.
Even so, we still have snow cover even after several days of temp in
1-14C (48-60F).
Will not know how plants haave surrived winter for
some time yet.
Global warming results in strange weather patterns,
not universal warming in all climate areas. So we can all more
strange wether patterns.
Chuck Chapman
-----Original
Message-----
From: J. Griffin Crump <jgcrump@cox.
net>
To:
iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, Mar 10, 2010 3:43
pm
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] OT: weather or not
ï
Thanks to each of you who has
responded. It's instructive to learn what is happening around the
country. And, as Janet points out, our iris is a hardy
critter. -- Griff
-----
Original Message -----
From:
g*@yahoo.com
Sent:
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 1:37 PM
Subject:
Re: [iris-photos] OT: weather or not
Coarsegold, 3000 foot elevation had 2 inches of snow Monday night,
2 more last night and COLD!
Can not even imagine (being a Californian) 2 feet for
days. Great thing about Irises, they don't care.
Years ago an old house near us was used for the fire department
training. Irises were never removed and they practice burned the
house down. Days later I rescued the irises and they boomed that
spring.
Out of the dismal will be lovely flowers to enjoy. Glad you
are okay.
Janet
From: Michael Sutton
<orders@suttoniris.com>
To:
iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 10:29:28
AM
Subject: Re:
[iris-photos] OT: weather or not
had some snow flakes here this morning
Griff....but nothing like that. we are having one of the coldest
early springs on record. so much for "global warming"
-----
Original Message -----
From:
j*@cox.net
To:
i*@yahoogroups.com
Sent:
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 10:05 PM
Subject:
[iris-photos] OT: weather or not
One of our group, in a separate
correspondence, asked how things are going in my iris world. The
answer is that we have had a record cold winter here, with two 2-foot
snow falls. The first brought two of my neighbor's 45-50-ft tall
Leland cypresses down on my house and iris beds. The second
brought down five more. (You can see some of the remaining trees
standing behind my house in the second photo.) While the worst
damage to the house appears to be a broken window and some eaves
knocked loose, a tool shed also collapsed, along with a broken fence,
a semi-destroyed pretty dogwood, and the extent of damage
to individual plants as yet unknown. Oil lamps,
candelabras and the fireplace saved the day when power went out.
(Remember that when you hear the greenies inveigh against
fireplaces.) A young neighbor went up on the roof and removed
the heavy snow from my chimney cap, so the flu would operate. My
son and a daughter each live about an hour's drive away (when the
roads are clear). It took Nate 3 days, working with a snow
blower, to clear his long driveway. Laura and her
husband, at the end of a tiny side street, were marooned in
their home for 8 days. On the morning of the eighth, her drive
finally having been cleared the evening before, Laura headed for work,
only to find that a snow plow had buried the entrance to their
street.
As for the irises as a whole, the long
deprivation of sunlight and prolonged freezing temperatures has had a
significant retarding effect. In an ordinary year, I would by
now have the plants groomed, fed and sprayed, and be looking forward
to the MDBs popping out in a couple of weeks. This year, the
plants as yet show no sign of new growth, hence are not yet able to be
groomed.
To give you an idea of
how abnormal things are, I've attached, besides a couple of
snow-buried beds and downed-trees shots, a photo of markers sunk
into the soil to their labels by the weight of the (finally melted)
snow. These are 15" rose markers, which usually stand 9 or 10
inches tall. In an ordinary freeze-thaw- freeze-thaw winter
here, the problem would be markers out of the ground and toppled over,
but this time, it's the reverse. So, it's going to be an
interesting spring. -- Griff
