Strange atmosphere here: some of the streets lights were on at 4:30, and the cars are orange and have their lights on. It's not really dark, but it looks a bit as if it was going to snow. It's not unusual to have an episode of sand from Northern Africa, but it's usually in summer, and not to that extent. We had some yesterday, and more today. A teacher at the university (a specialist in pedology, the study of soils) told us this afternoon that this kind of event can bring sand to South America, and even locusts. But most of the critters die in tha Atlantic and those that reach America rapidly die because they don't feed on the same plants. What's more, it's not harmful for the plants : they not only bring sand (silica or quartz) but also other minerals and "clay" that are beneficial to the plants. Since most of the particles are microscopic, I hope they will choke the aphids - yeah! Some leaves of a cyclamen (they're invasive here, but it's OK with me) and Acer morifolium : It looks a bit as if we were living near an open mine in Australia, or in the Sahara...
Went to the haidresser's this afternoon. There was a new layer of sand on the car, she told me that she "heard" people were advised to wait until this weekend to wash their car. The sky yesterday. Was it only the colours of sunset, or else ?
I like news reports like this that pop into my in box. UK weather: Seven days of spring sunshine forecast as temperatures could reach 20C, Met Office says
Take it's just for areas in the South below the M27 ??? :) :) The North we will still need our thermals on then !!
Wow what a day today !!! in the garden for most of the day in a t shirt , lovely warm sun on my back again , even the trees looked happier as well. So much to do in the next three days.
Couldn't agree more M. But some overnight frost here last night, which was a worry. Next week temps down to single figures during the day again.
Another lovely day this morning , just made a coffee and getting ready to go out and finish off all the large container trees with their annual feeding and new top dressings a good six hours and they will all be finished , started last week and i can now see the finishing line, then just sit back and relax ??? Cool up here last night but no frost. And has you say back to normal next week temp wise , but everything will be done for me that at least.
5°C last night, 21°C this afternoon, and sunny, no cloud. It should be a little cooler in a few days, but with no frost : I may have some apricots this year, and dozens of kilos of cherries. If so, I will leave the ladder and tell the neighbours to come with a basket and take as many as they want.
Hoping so , looking at all the trees over the past few days there is going to be a bumper crop of pretty looking trees this season , barring any late frosts !!!! The early looking spring coloured trees with soft pastel colours should be better looking than last year. Managed to get all the trees done by 5.30pm !!! bit longer than expected but they are all done , oh just to have six trees in containers what an easy job !! and every body else in the ground. :):) Added a few pics all from the past week of all the container trees which have been turned out inspected re fed , fertilized and dressed and new bark chip toppings. Now all they have to do is just leaf out and surprise me ??
I knew it was too good to be true !!!!! Here we go again. Weather: Temperatures set to plummet by 10C as cold front hits the UK
About the same here : I'm in a tee-shirt, repotting the late ones, and it feels like summertime. Rain from Tuesday, and about 12°C : one more day to enjoy this "gorgeous weather". They even predict -1°C for Sat. 2nd April, and even some snow on the 4th !!! (but they're often wrong when they predict some snow, let's hope it will be the case again...)
In the past few days, I went outside to have a quick look around while my coffe was brewing, once barefoot. I just hope I won't have to put on "moonboots" as they were called here ;-) I still have a pair in the garage, I used to wear them two or three days every two or three years, when there was at least 5 cm of snow. Haven't worn them for years. A pair for a local museum now...
Oh my.. But even if the tender leaves are damaged, maples should recover. The problem with the snow is that they can bring pseudomonas and other "saloperies" (excuse my French). So a spray of sulfur and/or copper might be a good preventive measure to take... As if we didn't have enough to do these days.
Well today it starting off in the low 20 F and the high today is 31 F. Then tonight suppose to be in the teens. I put most of the trees back in the green house, hoping to help the young leaves. But im really worried about my sprouting seeds freezing :( I'll be out of town for almost two weeks. So I'm hoping for the best!
