'Round the World Weather Report

[klondike]

In the high 20's last couple days here in the Green Mountain State - today we're getting pelted with hail & sleet, and they're calling for snow squalls later this afternoon.
Bad news for all those jolly yellow jonquills!

[moira finnie]

I just realized this morning that my brother in law is stuck in Italy (yeah, boo hoo), and Alison and her family may be waiting some time in Spain for a flight back home to the UK from their vacation thanks to the Icelandic volcano.

Could this be the renaissance of that relatively slow, but generally steady era of the ocean voyage?

[knitwit45]

wouldn't that be lovely? I took a tour of the Queen Mary years ago, it was a beautiful ship, made me long to pack my bags and set sail.

[JackFavell]

Ahhh.... who knows who you might meet on an ocean voyage....

[klondike]

A pouty, brusque cotton sky is spitting great cascades of lumpy snow everywhere, and has been since about 6 a.m.; the temperature won't budge from 28, and my front lawn is starting to silver from all this alpine fallout.
Hope the mercury can slide uphill seven or eight degrees at some point before suppertime, or all our carefully planted gladiola bulbs from this Sunday past might just get shocked into stillbirth by moonset tonight!
Reckon we should've stuck to the old 1st o' May rule (the Beltain reid), but dang, it's been so dew-sweet mild this year - even the tulips were in bloom already!

[moira finnie]

Yeah, we had periodic snow squalls yesterday that left a dusting, but nothing like NH and VT. The tulips and more importantly, the flowering fruit trees and early sprouts on the farms may have been harmed by this hiccup from Jack Frost. Let's hope that this is not an indication of the repeat of 1816!

[klondike]

Let's hope that this is not an indication of the repeat of 1816!

No indeed . . we do not want a repeat of 1816 - "The Year Vermont Nearly Died"!
If my memory of New England history is accurate, from the Autumn of 1815, to the late Spring of 1817, there was fewer than 5 inches of combined rain & snowfall, and the temperature never rose above the late forties . . in effect, trapping the Green Mountain State, and much of NH & upper NY State as well, in eighteen months of dire drought during a freakishly unending cold snap . . killing Vermont's entire farm yield, and resulting in the half-starved exodus of over 1/3 of the young state's mostly agrarian populace, by the time of the "salvaging" weather patterns of the Summer of 1817.

[Synnove]

The early 1800's were generally colder than today, weren't they? It was still the period known as "the little ice age" in our history books.

Here in England I've had a lovely long spring break with lot's of sunshine, flowers blooming, and just the right kind of temperature, not too warm and not too cold. This week I haven't seen so much of it because I've been studying. Now that I sent in my last essay, I think I'll go get an ice cream..

[Birdy]

We are at moderate, pleasant typical temperatures. After a freakish week in the 80s, we are temperate but unpredictable. I was tempted to buy annuals 2 weeks ago, but thought I'd better follow the age-old rule and wait till May Day. I'm glad I did, because we had a frost a couple of nights this week. Everything probably would have been okay on the porch, but why take a chance. Tomorrow I will try to sneak a flower basket onto my mom's doorknob. Happy May Day to everyone!

[JackFavell]

I did buy some night scented stocks a week or so ago, Birdy, and they have made it through our 35 degree nights here.

Now does anyone know if stocks will bloom through the summer if I deadhead them? Or are they pretty much a one shot deal?

[moira finnie]

I did buy some night scented stocks a week or so ago, Birdy, and they have made it through our 35 degree nights here.

Now does anyone know if stocks will bloom through the summer if I deadhead them? Or are they pretty much a one shot deal?

I've never grown them but found this info here related to Stock Flowers. They are so lovely, I will look for them in the nursery when I finally believe that the danger of frost is gone:

You need to dead head them after they drop the flowers. Stock will reflower quickly after you deadhead. Remove the entire stalk that just flowered all the way down to the base of the plant. Remember the nursery displays plants when they are at the peak of their bloom (that’s when they sell best) So it not unusual for a bloom cycle to be ending shortly after you bring them home. Stock goes through a cycle of bloom, new growth, bloom, new growth…etc until the cold autumn temperatures cause it to die off. As long as you have fertile soil and don’t try them out they should be fine. Another suggestion is the extreme heat slow down flowering for most plants. If your area of the country is already in the heat of summer, then now is the time to switch your fertilizer from an all-purpose like Miracle grow to a “blooming” formula. There are several brands on the market, Super Bloom etc. When you look at the break down the middle number will be much higher. example 14-56-14. This is because increasing that nutrient cause the plant to stop focusing on producing roots and foliage and concentrate it’s energy on producing flowers. Switch back to your general purpose fertilizer in the fall to build up the root system for winter.

[JackFavell]

Thank you Moira! Not only do I get movie info here, but flower info too! You are a gem.

They smell heavenly! The ones I have are pink, purple and fuschia, and they look super all mixed together. I had a feeling they were the kind to slow down in the summer. Now I just have to get some special "bloom" fertilizer....

[klondike]

Wow, did we really have snow here this past Wed & Thurs?
Today it's bone-dry & muggy, 82 degrees by noon!

[knitwit45]

Lovely day here! I think we're going to have a round of t-storms tonight, so I'm enjoying this great weather.

One of my email friends sent me something, that so far is working. It was a way to keep wasps and flies away from your doors. (Bear with me, this is really cool!) anyway, you take a plastic bag, fill halfway with water and drop in a couple of pennies. I used a zipper bag, the kind that has 2 lines of fasteners, folded the top side to side a couple of times, then drove a nail between the 2 lines of fasteners, attaching it to the wall higher up beside the door. I had wasps the day before I did this, and since then, no critters have shown up. I've even propped open the door, so the dogs can run in and out. NO FLIES, NO WASPS!
According to the email, the wasps see the pennies in the water, are confused, thinking some other critter has built a nest there. The flies (according to this missive) have a gazillion eyes, and the water and pennies reflected in them drive them away. Who knows, but it is working. Felt kind of silly nailing that bag of water to the house, and kind of silly telling about it, but if it works.....

[JackFavell]

That's so cool, Nancy! I am going to try it... it sounds crazy enough to work!