Weather early 2009

[Carol Shaw]

More rain! This is why I hate February- Thank goodness for Dunblane Early Bulb Day!

We've not seen any rain since Saturday afternoon when it basically washed the snow away. Sunday was grey but good enough for getting out for a walk. Today it was around 11C at warmest though it certainly felt warmer yesterday with all the strong sunshine.
David has been taking pix of all the bulbs as they spring into flower, and yes 'spring' is definitely the right word.. you walk round the garden and they are not there... an hour later 'boing said Zeberdee'.
We're looking forward to seeing all our pals at Early Bulbs (but are they looking forward to seeing us?). Just hope the weather doesn't turn so warm that all the snowdrops up here are over before the Moray Snowdrop Day on 28th.

[Maggi Young]

This is not entirely related to weather.... but it can't have helped much.....
A tree described as one of the largest of its kind in the world has toppled over after dying of old age and fungal attack.

The Luscombe oak in Exmouth, Devon, had a girth of nearly 8m and was one of the county's oldest trees - 250 years old apparently.

The giant fell to the ground in Phear Park last weekend and had been attacked by fungus as well as the ravages of time.


 Poor thing, I know how it feels.

[gote]

Maggie, you wrote:
More rain! This is why I hate February- Thank goodness for Dunblane Early Bulb Day!
You can have my weather if you wish -2 to -20   Snow on the roof that could avalance down to the pedestrians. Snow on the roads.
But also snow in the ski tracks  Unfortunately snow on the ice on the lakse so skating becomes impossible.
Göte

[johanneshoeller]

In the morning a view to my house and my Alpine Garden (only 435m over Sea!) with Cypripedium, Galanthus,...I think they will flower in May or June.
One green house is under snow (in the middle of the pic you can see it).
Now it has started to rain.

[cohan]

wow! lots of snow--we have rather a lot for us, but this is still, after all, a rather dry climate, and winter more so--we have around a foot to a foot and a half (30-45cm)of snow on the ground,after some warmish weather has compacted it; depending where you look--more around buildings/work areas where it has been shovelled off paths, less around the base of spruce trees (some bare) and variable in the bush ('forest' forest is a city person's word, in this area...lol)...
more snow mon, tues, wed--so we may see another 10cm or so...nothing like the heavy snowfalls in warmer, wetter places--i joke that the snow we get in 3 days is no more than montreal can have in a couple of hours!
overall, february has been colder than january, though still not extreme by local standards--we have had days near/above freezing, and daytimes of -10 to -15--m afew more of those coming in the next few;
on the plus side, the sun is much stronger now--there is some melting in sunny spots even on days below freezing, and it is now light enough to work outside (not gardening for a long time yet!) till around 6:30--thats already a 2 hour improvement over the shortest days, where i had to come in by 4:30; midsummer we are light til around 10:30..
cohan

[johanneshoeller]

The football match was cancelled

[johanneshoeller]

Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.

[Paddy Tobin]

Johanne & Cohan,

All this snow must shorten your gardening year significantly. Here, we have had dry and sunny weather with temperatures approaching 10C for the past few weeks so we have been outside in the garden everyday clearing away remains of dead herbaceous plants, some pruning on shrubs, deadheading hydrangeas, splitting and moving herbaceous material and freshening up the soil. I even cut the grass last week - this is a bit earlier than normal but we have had dry weather and the ground is dry enough to drive the lawnmower on it.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches has arrived the street.

Your world is beautiful but rather dangerous, Hans.  At our SRGC Meeting last night, we saw some wonderful photos of stunning views and flowers in the Austrian mountains..... very different to your view  today. 

Shame about the football match..... did anyone find the referee  ...... did anyone search, even? 

[mark smyth]

For the first time this year we have had a temperature in the teens. At 3pm it was 13C

[Anthony Darby]

The football match was cancelled

How can you tell? They might have had a fantastic match under the snow?

[cohan]

Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.

very nice, and much more snow than i have, even after a couple days more of snow--this is still a rather dry winter region--much less precipitation than most of eastern canada, for example; there have been a lot of avalanches in canada too, but that's quite far from me, especially in british columbia, where the pacific air drops a lot of moisture in the western rockies before it can cross the highest peaks, to my side..

paddy--i bet my growing season is shorter than hans' although he probably has a wait for all that snow to melt; i think there is snow in every month on the record books, though i have never seen that--but snowfall in late may (when it is green and trees leafed out) is not at all unusual, and again by midaugust, though in august its more likely a few flakes on a dreary day than the big dumps we can have in may;
so frost free is really only june, july and part of august--obviously with significant variations from year to year, and sepetember can be very nice, even if we have had an early frost;i think i had an armeria flowering in october last year, though we had had significant frosts for a long time--yay for alpines!..
i dont intend to grow much outdoors that will cause me to worry about the length of that season, apart from vegetables, and even then, i'd rather grow the more tender stuff under cover..
a major part of my gardening and plant passion will always be indoors, as long as i live in cold climates...lol..a few ofthe cacti are starting to flower and bud on my windowsill, and i am getting into a few south african wintergrowers, so there is always something to be interested in..

[Carol Shaw]

Today we have a wonderful winter weather.
A view out of my house and to the mountains where now is nearly 4m snow. The street to my house is closed, some smaller avalanches have arrived the street.

Johannes where are you in Austria? David & I have walked and climbed there many times.

[Carol Shaw]

Did you notice the BBC has changed its on-line weather info style... I found the old version much easier to understand  And they are threatening us with more snow... the bulbs are just starting to look bonny

[mark smyth]

Dont tell too many people. They will all want a share!