Re: Re: first frost
RYFigge wrote "Dave, you never give your zone!"
I'm assuming you meant me?
Well, actually I did in the last post, sort of.
The zone designation is still up in the air. Either Zone 8a or 7b. this
will only be the sixth winter, and my temperature keeping was sketchy the
first winter (we were building the house). If I remember correctly in
1998/99 the min. was 17 F at the new house, and was -3 at the old house 50
miles away; 99/00 was 17 F new house and 3 F old house; 00/01 17 F new and
10 F old; 01/02 14 F new and - 6 F old; in 02/03 it was 7 F new and -3 F
old (was a freak cold snap the first weekend in March when everything was
already growing and early Iris were blooming, would have been 12 and -3
otherwise). Not sure those numbers are 100% accurate but they're very
close. So far this year it's 27 and 28, but winter isn't here yet.
By the map, at the new house I'd be on the line between Zone 7 and Zone 6,
but the map doesn't get nearly all the details in mountainous country. By
zip code (for Belen) Jackson and Perkins thinks I'm in Zone 6, yet Belen is
smack in Zone 7. Oh well.
New house is approx. 20 miles se. of Belen, Valencia County, NM, approx.
6000 ft elevation (need to verify that), west base of Manzano Mountains on
sloping gravelly/rocky red granite clay soil; water table 430 ft. Old
house is in the river valley at 4800 ft, and is Zone 7a, but a bit
warmer/hotter in day time, and much less windy; on river deposited grey
sand; water table 4 to 8 ft depending on season. I sometimes talk about
the Botanic Garden in Albuquerque; it is very like the "old house in
growing conditions and climate".
Dave
By the way, there are two e-mail addresses I use. The other is
manzano57@msn.com, that's the home one, this is the work one at the botanic
garden.
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