I can't remember a recent winter without a single warm spell

... can you? I was thinking about it the other day, and realized it was November when we last had warm temperatures here. Normally we have at least one spell in January where it gets up into the 70's for a bit, and then cools off again. But not this year - cold and wet almost all the time.

And it looks like the next month or so is more of the same. I can't remember being in the 40's and 50's so many days in a row in a single winter. Guess like we said... if a plant survives in the ground this winter between being drowned and the cold, it'll take almost anything.

You are right it is either wet or cold, I can't even work in the yard.

I know - I'm getting so far behind on winter chores because the ground is so wet you can't sit on it and it's way too cold for hand stuff... I have all the reed to rebuild the fence in the back yard but can't find a day where it's above 60 with the ground dry.

X

Today was just miserable. And the wind got me today X - a good portion of my newly planted bamboo decided to start growing horizontally instead of vertically.

Just heard on the news that this strange weather pattern may continue for several winters to come. That is scary.

And it looks like it might snow in Summerville Friday night .. jeeze!

X

X: You just ruined my weekend. Our Grandson is playing in a Citadel baseball game Saturday. It can not snow !! Our report was a record for the coast in Jan. with 16 continuous nights in the 20's. Not made for this kind of weather.

Hope you guys like snow down in Charleston, they're saying 1-3" are possible.

How weird is it that normally here in the midlands we're too warm and are just below the snow line. This time, the cold air is in place, but the moisture is too far south. So either way, we end up with no snow here. What are the chances Charleston gets more snow than Columbia?

In February of '73 Summerville got 16" and Charleston got around 6". Emergency weather service now says 2"- 4" for the Lowcountry tomorrow. Everybody better have thei camera ready - just in case.

they're saying snow in northern florida along the coast! this is just getting to be too much.....sigh

Here are the details for Summerville .. and you're right it's getting to be way too much.

X

We had 1 1/2- -2'' here on Johns Island...all gone now. No harm, no foul. HATE that stuff! But we DON'T need any more rain!!!

Just got off the phone with the noaa guys .. they said this horrible cold pattern is going to last about another 4 weeks! I called cause I'm starting seeds and I didn't want to start any extra tropicals unless it was going to warm up soon.

X

Great, another month of this. I would love to go ahead and purchase a bunch of the plants I want - but I may just wait until it's time to actually plant this year. I suspect I'm going to have lots of holes to fill after this winter.

say it with me, Y'all! "Global Warming".....

Yes .. bring it on!

According to accuweather, we are in for a 20-30 year cyclical cool down. I remember prolonged, severe cold spells back in the 1960's and early 70's when area lakes froze completely over. And I remember reckless people, me and my kid brother included, walking across some of the frozen bodies of water. Back then tropical plants such as sago's, shell ginger, and mexican fan palms were unheard of here in the midlands. Back to the future? Say it ain't so!

well, it has been colder the last 3 winters than it seemed like when I moved back here again in 1987.

I really hope this isn't a prolonged cold spell. I guess I'll be planting lots of basjoo and hardier gingers if it is. Or could just move - either way :)

NOAA officially did release their latest outlook today. Colder for the 2 and 4 week outlook still (map below).

Also forecasting for a chance of below average temperatures all through March with above average precip. Three month outlook also calls for below normal temperatures and normal precip. Going by that logic... I suspect our last frost date this year will most certainly be in April. Last few years it's been getting later and later - around the middle of the month or so. Our regular March warm up into the 70's might not even happen this year - but one can still hope.

The low country is headed back up in the 60's this week, still cold at night but making progress. I do know we are over due for a wet year. I haven't seen a rip roaring summer lightning storm in many years which is odd. The kind you can smell coming before they get to you. Also haven't had a hurricane make it's way past us the coast in a while, that's usually good for a few inches in a hurry.

This cold weather is just perfect for us to remember come July-August when the heat, humidity, and gnats have us running for cover!

Good points.

Core, you know you're right about the T-Storms. I honestly can't remember going so long without having them roll through like they used to. I'm certainly no fan of the wind that typically comes with them - but I do miss them sometimes. I suspect we'll finally have a wetter spring and summer. Should make for excellent gardens this year!

Sigh .. not for me .. I was planning on lots of hibiscus .. traded my butt off last fall for them .. these are the extra tropical guys that surrender when it gets below 45. Heavy duty rethink going on at the moment.

X

I think whatever does survive might get the chance to thrive... but you're right X, it has to survive this mess first. I too picked the wrong winter to experiment with things like Traveler's Palms and White BOP's. Though I haven't given up on them yet.

Well I just got finished weeding and turning over the front bed and am delighted to report that the costus ginger made it through .. no mushy bits that I could find.

X

I'm interested in how your Traveler's Palm does or does not. I'm think dead as a door nail but I would give it some time (lots) to see if it comes back, of course if it turns to mush it's a goner. If it doesn't die where you are it will do alright where I am.

Surprisingly the T-Palm is not that mushy - at least not towards the ground. All the leaves got burned in the first November frosts, and all these bad freezes have certainly taken a toll on most everything - but it seems to be hanging in there. I think it'll all depend on how much of the center core was damaged. The plumeria's are gone (but that was a joke to try anyway). The white BOP's seem to be about in the same condition as the T-Palms - and I suspect they have a better chance of survival bc of how they grow. The 3ft Ti plant I put in the ground is also doing well it appears. The leaves are gone, the top of the crown is mush, but the stem is still as firm as ever - makes me think it'll just branch and keep on going this spring. That thing has a tap root nearly two feet deep, so one way or another I know it'll come back. All my monstera's look horrible - I might have lost some of those this year (I knew I was pushing my luck with those again, though one did survive last year under ground).

Weirdest part is how many of my bananas have staid fairly firm - while others flopped over at the ground and look horrible. Not sure why some have done well and others have not. The few I wrapped in frost blankets from head to toe are extremely firm still (like my Saba and a Hawaiian Apple banana) - two that are a little out of their zone to say the least. I'm a little worried about some of my gingers (Beehive and Torch especially) - but I'll know soon enough how they fared.

It is fun to push the zone limits like this though - every success is exciting. And this was a bad winter all around, so it's a good litmus test of what we can get away with here.

What a lovely day .. I've spent most of it in the yard - the banana thing, I've seen a few here that look burnt but are still erect and others have collapsed .. must be the species.

Thanks for the plumeria reminder .. I decanted all of mine, shook off most of the dirt from the roots and stored them in my utility room .. I probably need to pot them up in a few weeks. The tops look fine and the trunks looked a little shriveled but not much. I'm sure they will bounce back once in dirt and fed. I'm thinking I should wait on the food until they are used to dirt again?

I just got finished cutting my azalea to the ground to make room for the window boxes that are going up .. love my little toy chainsaw - only took an hour to do it .. If i had to hand saw it, I'd still be working. Now I have to find an axe so I can chop up the roots around the azalea to encourage it to put on new growth.

No fertilizer for those plummies until you see new growth X.

I used to have toy chainsaw called a Woodzig, it was wonderful, but sadly the company went out of business and I could no longer get blades for it. What kind do you have?

Fantastic gardening day! 61 last time I looked about 3, after transplanting some iberis and leucanthemum from a bed that will be tilled sometime this week by DH, weather permitting. Also did some more wintersowing, some penstemons and rudbeckia. I'm trying hard to be more restrained in my wintersowing this year.

I have a little 16 inch Homelight electric. It's light and maneuverable. I bought it a year ago when I was taking estimate to have someone come cut down 5, 6 foot leyland cypress .. the @##$% that used to live next door to me decided they didn't like them (I planted them to keep them from driving across my lawn) and sprayed weed killer all over them on their side .. needless to say on my side they looked ok - on their side nothing but a dead mess. After getting what I thought were absurd estimates of over 150 dollar for something that would take less than a half hour with a real chain saw I said to heck with it and bought mine - around $65 dollars. I did the whole thing in an hour.

X

LOL, my Woodzig was just 3", it was perfect for heavy branches but it wouldn't do whole trees. I am using a reciprocating saw now.

Yum! Wish I could afford a good one.

Black and Decker has a little 8" Chainsaw that's excellent. I've been using it for about a month now and it's extremely useful for cutting up branches or even falling a smaller sized dead tree. Sure beats using a reciprocating saw or doing it by hand. I think it's just $89-$99.

Good to know, I'll have to look into that one.

Keonikale:

Is that B&D caleld an alligator? I have one of those and absolutely love it. It's light weight and easy enough to use that I don't feel intimated or scared by it.

Here's a link to it at Target. I got mine from Lowe's

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/181-0140034-1630775?asin=B000GIKXXU&AFID=Froogle_df&LNM=|B000GIKXXU&CPNG=patio%20garden&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001