[pbs] Blooming now/Weather changes
J.E. Shields
jshields at indy.net
Mon Feb 2 15:31:08 EST 2009
Hi folks,
It helps to get back somewhere near on topic occasionally! Weather is
always topical for gardeners, even greenhouse growers. We have to worry
about cooling our greenhouses in summer and trying to keep them warm enough
in winter.
I'm in Indiana, which is in the wetter part of the Midwest, between the
Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains. In Indiana, we are
nominally in USDA cold zone 5. For several years, we did not fit that
definition, being more like zone 6 (i.e., warmer). This winter, we have
been right on target for zone 5: We had low temperatures down to -15°F
(-26°C). That was with no or very little snow cover.
A week ago, we had a snowfall that dropped 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of
snow in our general area. That is the most in one snowstorm since around
1996. Our annual total snowfall runs from 20 to 30 inches most years. The
season isn't over yet here, so we could get more this month.
It is too early for us to see spring flowers outdoors, even if the ground
were not covered in several inches of snow. Inside the greenhouses, we
have a few things in bloom:
Haemanthus pauculifolius in flower
Lachenalias of several sorts blooming with more in bud
Cyrthanthus cv., vigorous and floriferous plant with yellow tubular flowers
Scadoxus puniceus starting to show flower buds
Veltheimia bractreata in bud
Tulbaghia simmleri still in flower
Hippeastrum mandonii is blooming somewhat out of season
A few Clivia miniata hybrids are showing buds in the very heart of the
plants, but the Belgian hybrids (also miniata) have been blooming for at
least a month now. A couple interspecific hybrids are in bloom already
Cooling my greenhouses in summer is much cheaper than heating in winter but
is just as big a concern here. My winter-growing bulbs need to be kept
warm but dry in summer, and the only way I have managed that is by leaving
them in the greenhouse. Over-heating can be just as fatal as freezing in
winter.
Jim Shields
*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA
More information about the pbs
mailing list