January 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Hoy]

Robert,

you certainly have many interesting plants!

Here we are waiting for the snow and ice to melt and the frozen soil to thaw!

An ivy frozen solid!

[Herman Mylemans]

Here also a lot of snow!

[Hoy]

Here also a lot of snow!

Looks cold also!

[cohan]

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We are very pleased with Crocus angustifolius. In our garden, this species blooms very early in the spring. We have a number of plants, all grown from seed. Our hope is to increase their numbers and spread them around in the open garden.

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Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus is easy, both in the open garden as well as in the cider block planters.

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Another easy-to-grow Crocus species, Crocus tommasinianus. These were grown from seed. We are hoping that they set seed and continue to thrive in our garden.

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Leucojum aestivum is a familiar early spring bloomer in our area. I grow them from seed hoping for something better or different. Nothing in this department, yet.

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The first flower to open on this batch of Narcissus hybrids. The blossom became deformed from the stormy weather and variable temperatures. More flowers will be opening soon. The flowers are absolutely nothing special. The plants contain recessive genes that will take another generation to be expressed in the phenotype. I am pleased to be making progress again.

looking like spring there! Hope you get decent moisture over the winter//.

[Robert]

Hello Cohan,

I, too, am hoping for more precipitation this winter/spring. Currently, the situation is better than last year, but this is not saying much. As of today, 13 February, our precipitation totals are running 61.2% of average versus last year, 65.0%. Yes, there was a bit more precipitation to date last season, however we currently have 17.6% more liquid equivalents in the snow pack this year versus last year. In addition, there was no precipitation for the entire month of February last year. Currently, the 7-day forecast is not very promising for much in the way of additional precipitation. In the mean time, temperatures are currently running 2.3 F (1.31 C) above average in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and 1.42 F (0.79 C) above average in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the month of February. Although the La Niña is weakening and there are clear changes in the atmosphere, the persistent high pressure in the eastern Pacific Ocean still remains the dominant feature of our weather.

[cohan]

Hello Cohan,

I, too, am hoping for more precipitation this winter/spring. Currently, the situation is better than last year, but this is not saying much. As of today, 13 February, our precipitation totals are running 61.2% of average versus last year, 65.0%. Yes, there was a bit more precipitation to date last season, however we currently have 17.6% more liquid equivalents in the snow pack this year versus last year. In addition, there was no precipitation for the entire month of February last year. Currently, the 7-day forecast is not very promising for much in the way of additional precipitation. In the mean time, temperatures are currently running 2.3 F (1.31 C) above average in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and 1.42 F (0.79 C) above average in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the month of February. Although the La Niña is weakening and there are clear changes in the atmosphere, the persistent high pressure in the eastern Pacific Ocean still remains the dominant feature of our weather.

After being mostly mild, or average at coldest for much of the year, we had a couple of cold weeks in Feb, but now back to mostly mild/above average again. Lower than usual snowfall, but there has been snow on the ground in many places since mid-Oct.