Here it is…..THIS is what happens when winter misbehaves….. THIS is what happens when it’s 60, 70 and 80° all winter, and come spring, winter finally sets in… It causes all the trees and plants to get all happy and sprout and grow LONG before they actually should…on the calendar, anyway.
When winter never shows up, it get really complicated, because of course, it WILL get cold at some point, and if things are already into late spring/summer mode, they DON’T like it!
These sweet little baby oak leaves and catkins are totally and completely crispy after two April nights of 23-24° F!
Word has it that the leaves will grow back, but it is kind of deflating for sure!
And just when the birds were enjoying the catkins SO much! They would pick and pick and eat the little dangly things all day long. I don’t see them clamoring to get to them anymore. 🙁
And remember my winter sowing project?!?! This is it…. These are were my beautiful baby cantaloupe.
This is disgusting thing: during the two 23-24° nights, I brought the jugs into the house. I knew that they were so far ahead of schedule they wouldn’t make it through THAT cold of temps…. But the NEXT night wasn’t going to get near as cold – only into the 30’s – which, normally they could handle fine….
NOT SO….not THAT night!
Here are my Butternut squash afterwards.
Crocodile tears……
Sometimes I certainly wonder why I grow seedlings myself….. I could just go buy already grown bedding plants SO easily! More expensive I know, but think of the stress I’d save!
You Win some, You Lose some
And as dainty as my veggies and oak trees were, apple trees AND their blooms are tough!!! I’m not sure how far along the buds were on the fateful nights, but this is only a few days after! They look totally fine!
And The Wheat…
Yes….. Let’s not forget the wheat. This IS farm country after all, and my garden plants are kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things….
As wheat grows, the head (where the berries form) eventually slides up in the stalk…that’s called “in the boot.” Once the head is in the boot stage it can only handle 2 hours at 24°. Don’t quote me on that…. At least one of these nights, it got that cold. The damage of these two nights, at or below that temperature, remains to be seen. It takes quite a few days to see if the head continues to mature in the boot. If it doesn’t, well, harvest is over for that field! 🙁
Major damage shows up as empty white heads come harvest time…. Good wheat heads bend over with the weight of the berries in the head. Empty heads stand straight up and are kind of white. I don’t have a photo of the white empty wheat heads, but I can say that a ripe field of healthy wheat does something for your happy…..deep down. It’s beautiful!!
I guess this post has to leave you hanging…..we’ll see LATER if the wheat makes it. We’ll see LATER if I just for get the seeds this year and buy my bedding plants.
Until then, have happy days, and try to look on the bright side! Thanks for being here!
Good Thoughts
A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. — May Sarton
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