View Full Version : Mild Winter!!
Velutina
02-29-2012, 10:57 AM
I would love to hear of your winter 2011/2012 experience so far!
I have been seeing reports that many areas have been having an unusually warm winter. I've seen people posting on palmtalk on how places in Florida, Texas, and So. Cal have been much warmer than normal. I've also heard that many colder climates have been warmer and dryer than normal. I have family in Northern Utah that say there has been very little snow and relatively warm temps.
I've seen people from San Diego saying it's been colder than normal. Anyone from SD that can verify this?
Here in Las Vegas (zone 9a), it has only dropped below 32F twice, with lowest temperature of 30F!! Typically it will get down to about 25-27F with over 10 nights below freezing.
I'm very curious how the winter has been for people overwintering basjoos. I grew a lot of basjoos in zone 6 and know how much a dry, warm winter can help!
Here are some pics of my bananas which are already starting to grow. I usually don't see growth until late March, so this is very welcome! :D
'Ice Cream' (2 on right); 'Raja Puri' (left)
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/triterium/41b7d5f9.jpg
'Ice Cream' (notice the undamaged leaf which had some overhead protection from a palm. Very rare to have no damage like this in my climate!)
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/triterium/5f80e71f.jpg
'Raja Puri'
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/triterium/a761770d.jpg
Another 'Ice Cream'
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/triterium/b80c96c8.jpg
Ensete, Canna, and 'Raja Puri'
http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt201/triterium/8a159412.jpg
natej740
02-29-2012, 11:23 AM
I'm in zone 6 Ohio and everything looks good here. I just overwinter some of mine with piling cypress mulch on top of the stump. Yesterday I scraped the mulch back to see how they did and musa basjoo did great and my velutina was fruiting when winter hit and it just had a few small pups. They were still really firm at the base and only about an inch around or so. I left some elephant ears out and cannas well have to see how they come around.
As far as snow we had just a few days it snowed and no real accumulation. I bought my 3 year old daughter a sled and couldn't even use it it was so warm.
caliboy1994
02-29-2012, 12:02 PM
Not a single frost this winter here. Lowest temperature as of 2012 is 35.1 degrees F. We've had so many warm spells that my Mysore is actually pushing out a new leaf.
digdeep
02-29-2012, 12:47 PM
Over here on the coast it's been in the 50's at night since Mid January. Unless my thermometer is broken...
Nicolas Naranja
02-29-2012, 01:28 PM
It's actually been really warm except for 3 cold snaps. There were 2 snaps in January and one in February. The second one in January caught a lot of people off guard because no frost was predicted. Most of the winter we have had east winds which is unusual for this time of year. I haven't been below 40 at my house, but on still nights the temperature gradient has gotten steep. It frosted twice at the farm, but it was fairly light. More damage was done by the strong winds
nannerfunboi
02-29-2012, 06:40 PM
this has to be one of our mildest winters for yrs.. temps have
been very comfortable.. in provo i dont think weve had any
teen temps..thats very unusual.. weve had several days with 50F
but thats not so unusual.. moisture..its been moderately low on snow
so far.. march is a pretty wet month here..so we'll see what march brings..
caliboy1994
02-29-2012, 07:40 PM
The Santa Ana winds have been unusually bad this year...
kaczercat
02-29-2012, 09:05 PM
this has to be one of our mildest winters for yrs.. temps have
been very comfortable.. in provo i dont think weve had any
teen temps..thats very unusual.. weve had several days with 50F
but thats not so unusual.. moisture..its been moderately low on snow
so far.. march is a pretty wet month here..so we'll see what march brings..
pretty much the same up here. we just got a Colorado Low and got some snow:( but its going soon :) mildest winter I can remember in id say 10 years.
RobG7aChattTN
02-29-2012, 09:19 PM
Probably the best winter here ever! I can only recall three occasions of 3-day cold spells that got down to "normal" winter temperatures. Almost every other day is either above average or slightly below average (but still far above our usual cold snaps). Literally almost every day of the month is as good as that rare nice day we usually get during that particular month. I was out in San Diego last week when it was 64, but back in Tennessee it hit 78!!! I'm sure it didn't break the record, but I'll bet our average for Dec., Jan., and for Feb. broke the record for the averages those months...and all three months were like that. Just amazing! I certainly picked the right winter to test leaving my Ensete out under mulch. I have even had a peach tree in bloom for a few weeks now. Hopefully I'll have some peaches extra early this year...but our average last frost date is April 15. Strangely, last year our last frost was in mid Feb. which really never happens. We've already had an amazing 365 days in a row. Here's hoping for mild weather for the rest of the winter!
Same in Dallas, TX, we had a few cold snaps but nothing below 20F, probably around 25F rather. most bananas outside (except two small I bought at Costco) seem to have survived the winter and are showing life and new leaves, Icecream, Dwarf Orinico, Saba and Basjoos.
Question now is when do I dare to plant my p-stems outside that I kept in the garage over winter and that sem to do fine. (3 Icecreams, did much better than Gran Nain I had last year).
Wonder if the last frost day is passed given the unusal warm winter so far...
Might plant one of them and a few pots outside while I keep some in the garage for another week or two still as a precaution.
fishoifc
02-29-2012, 10:11 PM
We have a few more weeks to get through, but I may just get the biggest banana plant N. Carolina has ever seen this year.
Magilla Gorilla
02-29-2012, 11:42 PM
It was 37 degrees here Monday morning. Mild, it sucks! It has been very cold here in Santa Barbara. We have had the heat on for months. Sorry to complain!
palmtree
03-01-2012, 02:09 AM
Its been a great winter here. We only got one measurable snow storm bringing the winter snowfall total for the season to 2.8 inches in my neighborhood. Every month got into the 60s or better at least once this winter and the plants did really well!
Right now the tulips and daffodils are coming up and the buds on the trees are getting very big and will definitely be blooming early this year! All my palms look like they have survived the winter and I gave them very little protection this year (really only about 5-6 nights below 20F for the whole winter and that was in January and the weather warmed up very quickly following those cold spells so the plants were not too bothered by it).
Hopefully spring will be as good as winter!
asacomm
03-01-2012, 03:53 AM
I do wonder what's wrong with us!
The very strong coldspell had continuously hit my place in Japan and the
temperature dropped down to 20F instead of 30F that has been the normal
lowest teperature throuout the winters during these 10 years.
Some of my banana melted down and the flower buds of my avocado were
fried up.
It sound "Mild winter" is a dream story of other planet.
trebor
03-01-2012, 06:26 AM
MILD I put it in caps because it was so nice here in Margate Florida .. The best garden season Ive ever had! Think we had 3 cool nights and my tomatoes went crazy. My freezer is full and I still have fruit on plants! And my bananas just yesterday got fertilized and are looking really good . My apple bananas have been blooming all winter, The cooler weather stunts the development but they are alive and well today and it seems like we are past the threat of winter weather :) . Also my lawn never even got brown ! its starting to grow.... Im not to sure I like that because it just means Ill be tied to a mower a little earlier than usual. But I can handle it
Greg Jordan
03-01-2012, 09:34 AM
In Longmont CO (40Mi N. of Denver) we just had the second wettest February on record. Temperatures were in the normal range.
Greg
HoaNui
03-01-2012, 10:50 AM
I had no bananas outside this winter BUT we almost had a new record high. The highest temperature in Scotland on Tuesday was 17.2C recorded at Aberdeen, just 0.7C away from the record of 17.9C set in Aberdeen on 22 February 1897 (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/extremes/monthly_temperature_country.html#highest_daily_maximum_scotland) .
Scuba_Dave
03-01-2012, 03:41 PM
We've had temps down to the single digits, but one of the warmest winters on record with very little snow
We usually go thru 1.25-1.75 tanks of oil to heat the house
So far this year we have only gone thru 1/2 tank of oil
Nicolas Naranja
03-01-2012, 07:59 PM
We desperately need rain.
venturabananas
03-02-2012, 12:48 AM
In Ventura, like Andrew says for Santa Barbara just up the road, it was colder than usual. If you look at accumulated chill hours (<45 degrees), we had a lot more than average, though most of those were early in winter. Much less rain than usual. In short, a typical La Nina winter for us.
bananimal
03-02-2012, 08:24 PM
Tomorrow's forecast is low 90's for my area. Most high temp records for So Florida are expected to be broken. Just changed my watering controller to 2x a day for 30 mins for the bananas, grapes and veggs.
harveyc
03-02-2012, 09:17 PM
Here in NorCal I think I had a record number (30) nights with frost over a long period of time, largely due (I think) due to our severe drought and lack of normal winter cloud cover. At the same time, we had very pleasant daytime temperatures for many days this winter. My bananas received a lot of damage with all leaves dead, but most have started growing again with my Texas Star already putting out full leaves. Very unusual year.
Nicolas Naranja
03-02-2012, 10:00 PM
Tomorrow's forecast is low 90's for my area. Most high temp records for So Florida are expected to be broken. Just changed my watering controller to 2x a day for 30 mins for the bananas, grapes and veggs.
The only real prayer we have this year is an early start to the rainy season. The earliest start on record was in April.
TrailGaiter
03-04-2012, 12:28 PM
It's been an awesome winter here in Southern WI. We will be enjoying some temps in the mid 50's next week, which will melt the snow we just got. But, we've only had a couple decent snowfalls this winter, we're usually covered in snow until April! We have experience some single digit weather days, but not many...we're usually in the deep freeze all winter!
Knowing this, I could have probably safely left my young basjoos out this summer...but I did not. I have basjoos, an ensete maurelii, and my cannas wintering in the basement. The canna roots started to sprout, so I've potted some australia, and it's actively growing next to a window. I also have a canna cleopatra that I just got...and a brugsmansia cutting growing down there. It's looking like a jungle in my basement! But the nice weather this winter really has me itching to get them outside! I can hardly wait!
bananimal
03-04-2012, 03:09 PM
Todays forcast is 74 high and 42 low tonight. Got a little rain when the front blew thru at 9AM.
Yesterday high was 91!
Amazing cold front this.
Magilla Gorilla
03-05-2012, 09:49 PM
It seems like all of us in California have had an unusually cold winter and the rest of you have had a great mild winter. At least someone has had a good winter.
Tomorrow here in Santa Barbara the high will be 59! Yesterday the high was 75. Our lows have been in the mid 30's. My tropicals hate it! Oh, so do I!
caliboy1994
03-05-2012, 09:56 PM
Not me. My winter here in Granada Hills has been unusually warm, with warm spell after warm spell. Lows have been climbing into the 50s, usually staying in the 40s. Not an ounce of cold damage on my bananas, not a single frost. It's been so warm that some of my bananas have actually been growing! Get this: today's minimum temperature so far here has been just 62.6 degrees!
Magilla Gorilla
03-05-2012, 10:04 PM
Not me. My winter here in Granada Hills has been unusually warm, with warm spell after warm spell. Lows have been climbing into the 50s, usually staying in the 40s. Not an ounce of cold damage on my bananas, not a single frost. It's been so warm that some of my bananas have actually been growing! Get this: today's minimum temperature so far here has been just 62.6 degrees!
Lucky you!!!! It has sucked here!
caliboy1994
03-05-2012, 10:06 PM
Maybe it's because I live inland, I don't know. On the bad side, the Santa Ana winds have been terrible here. I remember in November and December last year the winds were nonstop. At least we're having breaks in them now.
Magilla Gorilla
03-05-2012, 10:54 PM
Maybe it's because I live inland, I don't know. On the bad side, the Santa Ana winds have been terrible here. I remember in November and December last year the winds were nonstop. At least we're having breaks in them now.
I didn't add we have had gail force Santa Ana's as well. Shred city!
john_ny
03-05-2012, 11:27 PM
We have to keep this in perspective. While I consider we had a pretty mild winter here, (no freezez until Dec. 12, and a low of 13°F, for one night) in New York, I guess people in Southern California, or South Florida would think this was terrible.
caliboy1994
03-06-2012, 12:01 AM
If that was the case here most of the plants in my yard would be dead.
Magilla Gorilla
03-06-2012, 12:29 AM
We have to keep this in perspective. While I consider we had a pretty mild winter here, (no freezez until Dec. 12, and a low of 13°F, for one night) in New York, I guess people in Southern California, or South Florida would think this was terrible.
I grew up about an hour from you in New York and your right. I left 22 years ago. Once you move an get used to this weather, you can officially wine about 50 degrees :ha:
venturabananas
03-06-2012, 01:16 AM
Not me. My winter here in Granada Hills has been unusually warm, with warm spell after warm spell. Lows have been climbing into the 50s, usually staying in the 40s. Not an ounce of cold damage on my bananas, not a single frost. It's been so warm that some of my bananas have actually been growing! Get this: today's minimum temperature so far here has been just 62.6 degrees!
Actually, that's not entirely true. Check out the weather stations nearest to you:
Pomology Weather Services - Chilling Accumulations (http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/chillcalc/)
In terms of hours less than 45 degrees, your winter was a pretty average one. But you (like us in Ventura and Santa Barbara) also had lots of warm daytime highs.
Magilla Gorilla
03-08-2012, 11:05 AM
It was a mild 36 degrees this morning! Lovely!
TrailGaiter
03-08-2012, 03:00 PM
Just loving this winter, and driving me nuts that it's so nice, but I can't put my bananas and cannas outside yet! Next week we're looking at near 70! That's insane for March in Wisconsin!!!!! If it wasn't for family, I would have relocated to a warmer climate years ago....I don't like winter AT ALL. But if they were all like this one, I'd be happy!
venturabananas
03-08-2012, 03:35 PM
It was a mild 36 degrees this morning! Lovely!
And now it is 70 degrees in Santa Barbara. It's been that kind of year. You beat me by one degree for the low. It only got to 37 near my house. But now it's warmer near your house than mine. I've only got 65 degrees.
Magilla Gorilla
03-08-2012, 03:56 PM
And now it is 70 degrees in Santa Barbara. It's been that kind of year. You beat me by one degree for the low. It only got to 37 near my house. But now it's warmer near your house than mine. I've only got 65 degrees.
It has been that kind of year. Next is the drought if we don't get any rain.
Bananaman88
03-14-2012, 02:50 PM
Very mild winter for Houston. I think the only frosts (two or three of them) came in November, when I lost most all of my banana blooms. The rest of the winter has been so mild with lows mostly in the 40's. The only banana that really didn't get toasted by the frost is my clump of M. ornata that is actually flowering already...by far the earliest I've ever had a banana flower. I'll try to post pics of it soon.
Also, my 'Siam Ruby', notoriously cold-sensitive, overwintered in a pot with no problem whatsoever!
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2020, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.