Moving to Lilse, IL

I'm moving from AZ to Lilse, Il next month and was wondering if this is the right forum for the area? And yes, I really am trading mild winters and blazing hot summers for frozen winters and hot, humid summers.

Yes, you are coming to the right area. Might be frozen winters, but at least you can garden in the summer.
Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome. I am going to miss wearing short sleeves in January, but one has to go where the work is.

Welcome. I don't think you'll be growing any citrus here unless you grow them indoors. FIL just left behind a lemon tree in Tucson last month.

Will be doing the same here, although I plan to return when I retire, so my daughter and SIL better take good care of my gardens while I'm away or there will be blood!

Definitely something to look forward to! I have a Meyer lemon in a pot that goes outdoors in the summer. Looks very sad though compared to FIL's backyard lemon tree loaded with fruit in January.

Yes the humidity may bother you some , Winters are bad , but tolerable . Gardening ? entirely different , I came originally from Illinois ...

First thing, look up what zone your new home is in.

There was definitely no "zone cheating" this winter - back to a true zone 5 for me. Hoping that the 2 months of constant snow cover will have protected everything. And to think that last winter I complained about no snow cover.

We have had a very cold winter. Avg (?) amount of snow. Blame me. I'm old and outta shape with a fair amount to driveway to clear. I was heard to say out loud more than once this fall - I'll take the cold over the snow please. Gene

Two snow storms coming and Artic air this week ,,
Someone send me back my Global Warming .. puh-leeeeeese!?

This message was edited Feb 26, 2014 4:52 PM

Sounds like some of us are guilty of jinxing the weather this winter (myself included). Yeah, another polar vortex for us. Tom Skilling said that we will probably be below normal on temps for about the first half of March (so far). Ugh. Veggie scraps for the compost heap are piling up on my back patio because I'd have to don a pair of ice skates and skis to get to the compost pile.

Same here for my veggie scaps - my 30 gallon can is almost full. This has been one of the most horrible winters I can remember. Since we've had conitinuous snow cover since December I can't assess the damage. It will be interesting to see what survives.

I'm thinking I'm in for some snow mold on the lawn (if it hasn't been totally smothered). Was also hoping on getting some snapdragons to winter over but I'm not so sure now. Good thing I started more seeds this week. I saw 31 forecasted for me for next Thurs. Whooppee!

Hey ya Cindy I' will get the garden rose backed deck of cards , and raise you a 40 degrees here for day after tomorrow . lol
Everything still frozen and a Winter Storm goes with that 40 * Going to warm up and Snow ..
Gee , isn't that news ...

Whaddya say ? Garden Stakes , for say Snapdragons and Snow Mold ? ..^_^

This message was edited Feb 28, 2014 1:37 PM

juhur - saw that you might be getting some nasty ice this weekend. I'm seeing 37 and snow for a high here next Friday. Whoohoo! Above freezing!
I never learned how to play poker but love your humor!

Where I live, we are on a track to have the 10th or 11th coldest winter ever.

I know areas further north (from me) have been absolutely frigid. Here, I can only go by Chicago stats since we're about 30 miles away. I'm definitely starting to feel cabin fever. I can't remember two solid months of snow cover and I don't think it'll be melting any time soon.
They've upped our Friday forecast to the 40's (with snow of course).

Embarass, MN -44º this morning.

Twin Cities have had 49 days of below zero temps this winter. Only 4 colder winters & 3 of them were before 1900.

I remember once when it as -36F my Dad had set the alrm clock and got me up at 3 AM. Had a pan of boiling water on the stove top. Threw it out the back door = bamb, it exploded, nothing hit the ground.

Gasrocks' Water Bomb ,, I've heard of that being done , natural opposite of a pop bottle bomb ,) something like that ..

I posted on Countrygardens ; weather thread , ) Grandma Mother Nature came for a March stay and Brought Her Lion with her )oh well ...
Not bad here , only snow ,, more snow ... more snow later today.

Lisle is home to Morton Arboretum, which you'll want to visit over and over again. It's big and beautiful. I wouldn't mind making "The Arboretum Village" my home. :)

gasrocks - cool trick! We've seen a lot of frozen bubbles on the weather reports though.
Pseudo - thanks for mentioning the Morton Arboretum as it reminds me that I should go see it as I never have.

Well, I've been in lisle since the 8th and am getting settled in. Planning a container gardenon my balcony once it warms up. all but one of the succulents I brought with me made it and 2 have bloomed; Stapelia kwebensis and Stapelia rufa.

Nice blooms!
Just when almost all of the snow has melted, I woke up to snow showers this morning. Nice omen for the first day of spring. But it will be 60 here tomorrow.

Cindy, same thing here. Can't wait for it to warm up so I can start a ontainer garden on my balcony. Going back to Az for Easter and should be harvesting radishes, beets and potatoes. I'll also need to thin the apples and tie the grapevines up. Hopefully the glads will be in bloom, as well as the cannas.

I'm heading to Tucson shortly to take care of some family business. Have never been. Kinda open to a new experience but will feel a little out of place in a rock and cactus garden. Most dominant in my mind is the thought of scorpions and rattlesnakes.
I did spot crocuses yesterday in a couple of bed here even though the ground is still half-frozen.

Cindy, depending on where you are in Tucson, rattlesnakes may not be a problem. If you're in an area outside of the city center that still has enough open area, then snakes may be present. Just because Tucson in in AZ, doesn't mean everything is rock and cactus; we had quite an extensive veggie garden when I lived there, as well as irises, roses and nary a cactus to be seen.

Scorpion, Spiders, and Hila Monsters , Remember they like hiding in tropical plant trunks (spiders and scorpions ) .. Been there , seen that ,,

Moving a few wild weed type flowers around here today , calico Aster most of them .

I forgot More Utah and Nevada and Fire Ants though ,, Nasty little critters ,,

In over 40 years in AZ, I only saw 2 gila monsters in the wild and only had a handful of scorpions outside my house. Black widows are a bigger problem.

Oh - thanks, frogy, for an addition to my list! As we're cleaning out a house and garage, we'll probably have to keep gloves around. I did learn that it may be too early for the scorpions and rattlesnakes to be much of a problem. The landscape of "planned" community where we'll be is mostly rocks and cactus with lemon, grapefruit and palm (?) trees.
Snowing again this morning. This winter does not want to end. Sigh.

Cindy, don't be too sure about it being too early. AZ has had a mild winter this year and temps have been mostly above average.

Cindy 31 degrees and snowing lightly here also .
You might find a stowaway in your trailer , ^_^ lol

Oh, frogy - you've dashed my hopes of missing the critters. Talked to a guy out in Tucson a couple of days ago who assured me it's too early for them but you're right about the spring this year - hot and dry already. (I'm using "hot" relatively as I consider temps in the 80's to be warm. I think it's going for 87 later this week.)
juhur - you're welcome to stowaway if I can put you to work. :)

I know a couple of weeks before I left Mesa one of the TV stations had a piece on how the critters were coming out early this year.

Back from AZ last night. Didn't have any time to really go out and sight see while we were there. Didn't see any tarantulas, scorpions or fire ants (luckily). Did see road runners, Gambels quail and little green striped lizards. A plethora of mourning doves as well as a few hummers. Where we were, the HOA insists on such pristine front yards that Roundup is used with a very heavy hand (ugh). The weather was nice (not scorching) but they're in a drought situation. It was kinda nice to have rain here at home this morning after seeing a -11% in relative humidity out there.

Hi ya Cindy Yes Lots of pretty scenery "Out There" a dry humor ..he he ,
Well I missed stowing away , anything to get out of doing work ,, lol you know the type ,,
Ended up staying home cutting rebar and cement blocks to replace foundation damage ,, not much doing ,, right , uh huh ...

Well welcome on home and stay warm .and dry ,, It is the Great Lakes Region ,,, rain on ..

I'm going back over Easter; hope the yard looks okay and nothing has died in my absence.

juhur - love the "dry humor". Nothing like putting hand lotion and lip balm on 3 times a day out there. Ate at some great places in the Catalina/Oro Valley area so that was the extent of my sightseeing (except for to and from the airport).
frogy - the irrigation system in my in-laws yard needs maintenance and that's a necessity in that area. Tried to revive some too-dry shrubs and made sure I kept the orange tree watered. I thought it was a lemon until I actually saw it. Even got to sample one of them.
It might be 30 degrees cooler here but I sure like seeing the crocuses and snowdrops blooming in the backyard.