Do you know what these numbers are? 81, 83, 78, 81, 81, 81, 80, 78, 81
How about these numbers? 36, 35, 32, 29, 17, 32, 36, 29, 26
Need a hint?
Here’s one: June and January
Still don’t know?
The first set of numbers is the high temperature here each day this past week or so, from June 16 – June 24. Sweet, huh?
Oh, yes, it’s been nice, pleasant, cool, energizing. Did I mention pleasant? The hydrangeas haven’t even suffered from their usual afternoon droopiness. Ideal weather, really.
But I won’t gloat about my good fortune in the weather department, not just yet. I know many gardeners have struggled in this same time frame to keep plants watered in triple digit temperatures that zapped not only the plants but also their strength and desire to do anything but survive.
I know these same gardeners who are suffering in the heat now will be re-energized this winter, when it cools down in their gardens.
And I’ll be freezing inside, because that second set of numbers is the high temperature here each day this past winter from January 16 – January 24. Obviously, we don’t garden outdoors much at all in the wintertime around here. We don’t even have any flowers blooming outside in January.
Mostly we sit around and read seed catalogs, gardening books, and the blogs of those gardeners who are gardening in the dead of winter.
Maybe next January I should plan a trip to someplace warmer? Any suggestions?
You’re right Carol. I have been envious of your temperatures and rain. I need to be pretty particular lately with what I plant. It needs to be native so it won’t need too much TLC to handle no rain and hot, humid summers. BUT, we can have pansies pretty much all fall and winter so that keeps me going.
It has been wonderfully pleasant around here lately. If it weren’t for the mosquitos, it would be like paradise.
If you like being active, Tucson, Arizona, is a great place to go in January. Lots of great hiking & biking, as well as golfing. If you like laying around, head to Florida or Cancun or anywhere in the Bahamas. Life’s a beach.
Carol, the temperatures have been nice. My plants are beginning to look stressed because believe it or not, we really need rain. We have pretty much missed the storms that have moved through the area for about the last week or more. Things are looking very dry. The neighbors are beginning to water lawns.
I suggest Hawaii. What better place to spend the winter months. And as long as we are dreaming…I’ll go too!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve been telling myself much the same thing. And I keep going by visiting all you northerner’s summer gardens just as you enjoy visiting us down south in the winter.
“This too will pass. This too will pass.”
Carol, you could come here, but I would rather be in Hawaii myself.~~Dee
I think you should plan a trip to Disney World and take along your nieces and nephews (and their parents of course!)
I wish I could say it was wonderful here…summer descended way too early and now we are in a drought period…no rain for more than 3 weeks and scant before that! The beach vacation helped! Now I can completely recommend Folly Beach, but come this winter it might be too cold in SC.
We went to Miami one winter, it was heavenly…we rented a convertible and drove to the Keys! Cuban coffee, fried plantains, black beans and sunshine! Paradise.
gail
Lucky you, we’ve had nothing but a heatwave here in Virginia. As far as rain goes, it’s been a scattering just enough to tease the plants. Summer came upon us like a rocket this year. I will look forward to the cooler days in the fall.
Similar weather here in NJ. Although I’m hoping to read a few less gardening books this winter because I’ll actually be gardening. Going to try and grow some greens in a cold frame or small hoop house. I have a lot more free time in the winter so I figure, why not give it a try.
They’re only numbers but oh, how they can send our spirits soaring or plummeting! I echo Dee’s suggestion of Hawaii for a winter trip. Of course, I think Hawaii is a good idea any time 🙂
You know where I’d LOVE to go, some winter? Arizona. Where it’s dry and warm, not muggy and hot. I hear all kinds of good things about it, and it’s about as far removed from my reality as we can get in the main part of the continent, I think. I’d love to visit Alaska, too–but in august, not January!