It's that time of year again...

My weather guy says 80's this next few days then 60's.

It's definitely time for this heat to break- way too early. We broke a record here yesterday and are set to again today. All my new Spring plantings need some April gentleness!

We need the April showers to wash all this pollen away and to cool things off. I don't want to be hand watering seedlings and new plantings. It can't be summer already.

Yeah when I started this thread I didn't expect to have 91F plus temps in EARLY April!! Sheesh, what a wild and wacky last few months of weather.

I think the coldest temperature I've seen in the long term forecast is a low of 44F for us here on Friday night, which compared to the last three years is a blessing. I'm glad I went ahead and moved stuff out - it appears Spring, or, eh, Summer, is here to stay.

We're dead in no see'um season so summer is not here yet. Looks like were done with the 40's at night and 50 will probably be gone in a few weeks.

I do wish it would rain and wash off the pollen. On the other hand, this being my first spring in SC, I'm giddy everyday with all the gorgeous things blooming and this week.....dogwoods and wysteria, or grape trees, as my young one has named them.

Maybe Friday .. I'm counting on it too .. I'm going to hit the front yard with the sprinklers this evening and put down the weed n feed.

Glad you are liking your new home!

X

I just looked at my Azaleas today.... holy cow I've never seen so many buds ready to bloom. I'm hoping the blooms this spring are as plentiful as the pollen thus far. I've never seen pollen this bad in my life.

This message was edited Apr 6, 2010 8:26 PM

It's the Azalea Festival here next weekend, so those azaleas had BETTER show their colors soon!

Its supposed to rain Friday in Raleigh, NC. Hoping, hoping.....This pollen is ruining all the colors of the blooming plants. Its like looking through a film of dust...

Looks like the nights will be pretty cool this weekend too. Calling for 40F right now, down from the 44F they were forecasting yesterday. I just hope it doesn't dip much below that, else the chances of frost increase. Pleaaase mother nature, stay warm!!

Grrrr .. just dropped the rain chance here to 20%.

We're looking at 38* Friday night.

According to TWC, rain in Raleigh tomorrow night is sitting at 70% chance, and the low for Friday (which also was a low 39) is now showing 46 degrees. I'll take the rain, AND the higher (low) temps.

Don't worry X, I am going to turn on my sprinkler system this weekend - guaranteed to make it rain.

Lol .. well after dismantling the heating system and putting away the kerosene heater I'm truly surprised we didn't drop into the 20's again .. I was wanting to put down the weed n feed .. guess I'll have to wait!

Arg, I hope this doesn't turn out to be the case.

EEK!!!! I'll certainly try to think warm thought your way!

Thanks, I already did some readying of the frost blankets... if it should come to that. I'm not pulling anything inside... if it gets me, it gets me this year.

Oh no! No frost please. That warning is enough for me. Fortunately, I didn't get to put out many plants as yet. But I will have to haul in a couple. 38 degrees is a little too cold for tropicals, especially those that wintered indoors.

Right now they've moved the lows back up to 40F for Sat and Sun morning, but there is still a chance the temperatures right at the ground level could get to frost levels. I think anything up above the ground about 3-4 feet or so will be fine. This will probably be a grass and small plants frost if it is one at all. But it looks to be a very clear and cool night with no wind and that's what bothers me. I may cover a few things just to be safe depending on the forecast Friday night.

Raining on the coast, prefect timing because I just turned on my irrigation a few days a go. Everything is blooming big time so I guess the winter made the plants happy??

I'd think all the precip we got this winter would really help the spring bloom.

Here's hoping that nice rain gets rid of the pollen for a day or two. With a sunny week ahead though, it'll be back soon. Next week looks to be gorgeous, I'm glad I changed my time off to be next week instead of the later one. What a gorgeous week to have a plant-a-thon.

I appreciate the rain we got last night. I kept the window open and fell asleep to the sound of the rain and my waterfall in the pond ... for the first time in a couple weeks, I actually slept until my alarm woke me up this morning, vs waking up an hour early and not being able to get back to sleep.

I did plant last weekend a few of my plants in the ground -- the red abyssinian bananas, a couple tropical hibs, and the banana cannas I'd gotten to try this year. I don't have any "frost blankets" to put on them tonight. Any suggestions what else I might use? Would an old sheet or blanket be okay to use? Or should I use plastic of some sort? I have bubble wrap left, but that wouldn't allow air flow, and wouldn't think it would be good to use.

I wouldn't use the plastic, I've heard it can cause burning (by the sun if not the frost). Normal blankets have always worked well for me. I'm still hoping it's not going to be too bad - NOAA says there may be a light breeze the colder of the two nights. I'm about to check the forecast discussion now to see what they're saying.

Boy is it glorious today without the pollen.

Indeed it is... all the yellow haze is gone and my car is actually it's old color again. We best enjoy it while we can - looks like all of the next week is going to be dry and I'm sure the trees are going to be more than happy to keep pollinating.

The azaleas are coming out full force now! And yes! My car is back to its normal color again as well.

OMG ITS SO MUCH NICER TODAY!! Thank you, thank you Mother Nature...

Started moving ALL my tropicals out of the GH today. Moving them to a partially shaded spot under deciduous trees (SweetGums, only partially leafed out)... Will move them forward about 10' a week for the next couple of weeks until they reach "Full Sun" status. "Full Sun" here equals 6 hours of direct sunlight, which is the best I can provide...not enough for sun worshippers, but hey, it's what I got! I've found that growing things in the "main"GH which has a UV-protected coating on the twin-wall polycarbonate surface really reduces their ability to adapt to direct sunlight. Things wintered-over in my Mini-GH (no UV protection), can be moved directly outside with no adverse effects... Anyone ele here noticed that?

Faked out again--Where is this cold coming from today, Raleigh people? Brought all my seedlings in last night, fortunately, and I guess the houseplants are going to stay in a few more days. I realize it isn't freezing today, but it is a bit cold for tomato and pepper seedlings....guess I'll wait a tad longer to put them in the garden. Our temps are ranging from low 40s to almost 90 this week, egads!! See what you're missing, South Carolinians? No bragging now....

We got into the 40's last night, with some areas dipping into the 30's. The only plants inside are my orchids. I'm waiting until I'm confident it won't get below the low 50's before they come out.