Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
Skids, it appears that the Melbourne climate is similar to mine. I grow "cool tolerant" varieties such as: Dwarf Namwah, Dwarf Orinoco, Ice Cream (Blue Java), Goldfinger - with no covering and no problems. |
I think Melbourne is a bit colder. San Diego is hot sub tropical isn't it? I would imagine Melbourne more like San Francisco. I do cover the plants with a tarp on nights when there is frost. I lost one pseudostem on a plant last year due to a frost for which I was unprepared.
It is strange however to compare the climate here with locations in the US that are a similar distance from the equator. We have ocean to the south (polar region) and a continent to the north (towards equator). So the ocean brings cold winds, and the occasional cold spell from Antartica, but it also moderates the cold (or heat in summer). There are no blizzards, and snowfall away from the high country is so infrequent (every 20 years or so) and so sparce that when it does fall near the city it is a lead story on the news. When the wind blows from the north, in summer it brings very hot air, and even in winter the air isn't freezing, whereas I understand in the US the situation is different. There are many places that have no moderating ocean influence and have all of Canada, mostly polar, acting like a freezer and providing sub-zero air and blizzards.
Of course, that's just my understanding from very limited information.