Re:map

I live in the South Island of New Zealand,and on the outskirts of Christchurch to the northof the city.If you look on a map you will see the city and just to the north of it is a river, well we live just by that.Our temps are in winter from average 9-15 celcius(50-60f).We get frosts with the coldest to -6c.We do get snow falls when it is really cold but if it does settle only lasts a day or two at most and that is usually only once or twice in the winter.We are expecting some today but at the moment the sun is shining and the warm Norwest wind is blowing so we will have to wait and see.Summer temps average 18-25c(66-78f)the hottest days see the temps into the early 30sc(90f),but this summer we had weeks of temps into the 30s.The hottest summer on record.We have also had the warmest winter on record this year.Record hot temps, some days have been like summer.

Our last frosts are about early to mid october so we leave our frost tender plantings till Labour weekend which is the second to last weekend in October.If it is a good spring we can usally plant before then but just keep an eye on the weather.There is not too much point planting too early because if the soil temp is not right the plants will not grow so sometimes it is better to be patient and wait.

that is a brief look at my part of the world.My city is called the Garden city and most people here are garden orientated.We have more garden centers per head of population than any where else in the world so we do like our gardens.I am interested in knowing where others live and their gardening conditions and special problems for their areas.