May 17, 2011
To plant or not?
We have used the furnace every single morning since we returned from Mexico. It is cold, wet and miserable. Today there is new snow on the hills and still a good deal of snow on the mountain. The low forecast for tonight is 3C with a risk of frost!
We haven't had snow on these hills for a few weeks, till this morning that is!
This is a first for Kelowna, snow so late in the season.
Yesterday I stopped in at the nursery that happened to be next door to the appointment I was in town for. It was not a pleasant experience, the wind was whipping up and down the aisles and the plants looked sad. We have decided to forgo planting numerous flowers this spring ( what spring ) and just put is a few here and there to add some color to the patio. Most of the lovely Mexican pots I have brought north over the years will remain empty. As I wandered through the rows of flowers I listened to two old men talking about the weather and how in all their years they had never experienced a spring like this. They are gardeners and just did not know what to do. They also seemed to be sad, disappointed in nature. Spring and flowers is what give them the energy to continue on with life. They finally said goodbye to one another, making plans to come back next week.
One of the nursery staff was giving advice to another customer, ” the rule of thumb” she said, “is if there is snow on the mountains, don’t plant”. So I too will wait for another day, a better day.
For mucho pesos $37.39CAD I got 5 tomato plants and a few annuals.
Some bird must have dropped the seed that bloomed thru the cement.
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Contessa I am surprised that anything will grow in that cold of weather. I never realized just how cold it can get in Canada. I have never gone North from where I currently live and so I am a little in the dark about the cold and snow. I have only ever been to the snow once, I was 7.
I think spring forgot to stop by this year, hopefully we will have a good summer, soon! But my Grandfather always said here, not to plant anything before May 24th, that’s when he took off his long underwear for the summer, no matter what the weather.
George…your grandfather sounds like a wise man!
Trinidad…..don’t get the wrong idea….we do get heat here, especially where we are here in the Okanagan. In fact we are called the desert area of Canada. It does get up to 40C in the summer and too hot to go out! I’ll keep you ‘posted’!
The same thing for Montana, as far as the heat goes. When the earth makes its way around the sun, because of the tilt, we are exposed to much hot sun in the summer months. Same thing happens to the southern hemisphere. We can get temps in the 90’s and 100’s F. It’s relatively dry here, too. We are considered “high desert.”
Funny you should talk about the old-timers and the mountain snow. Many old-timers here say the snow has to be gone off the Bridger Mountain range before we can plant in our valley. About May 24 is the usual time, but I think this year is going to be different. I know I’m tired of watching little kids play baseball in the icy wind!
I think most places in Canada (the exception being Alberta and right now they could use the rain) and the northern States have been getting crapy weather. It is very depressing. I think Kevin and I will be staying south next year.
Hope you see the sun soon.
Kevin and Ruth
Lucky you if you can! I read that Canadians are allowed to be away once every 5 years for 18 months and still have their health insurance covered.
I enjoy your blog and while I don’t often post, I do read it regularly.
Regarding your weather, ours is very unusual too. We had hail yesterday with lots of rain, of course, and tornadoe warnings. Tornadoes!
Now tomorrow it’s going to be 80F