As we close out 2022, I thought I would spend a few minutes reviewing the weather and climate of the past year, both the average conditions and some of the extremes we saw. While this is skewed towards the United States, I did include some events happening in other parts of the world for our … Continue reading Goodbye to 2022 and hello, 2023!
If you listen closely you can hear the beasties in your garden just a-singin’ that tune. And who can blame them? Warm temperatures and lush green gardens? They enjoy them as much as we do. But sometimes they can be enjoying our landscape a little too much. So now what do you do? Visit the … Continue reading *Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…
Yikes! Drought of epic proportion is imperiling many western states this year. For the first time some water districts have proposed curtailment of all exterior irrigation, no applied water will be allowed outside of residences. There are public forums are scheduled with experts and officials giving advice. Of great concern is the certain loss of … Continue reading Saving Your Trees From Drought!
I love plants! I love gardens! I love nature! So why not bring it all inside the house? Who can resist those beautiful Calatheas (Prayer Plants) they sell at Home Depot? House plants afford us the opportunity to garden indoors when it’s hostile outside and they beautify a room like nothing else. There is an … Continue reading House Plant Basics
In the past week, two new major climate reports have been released. One is the latest (6th) report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the other is the State of the Climate 2020 report. Of the two, the IPCC report has garnered a lot more press, but both are compilations of work … Continue reading Two new climate reports indicate what gardeners may expect in the future
Insects and pathogens cause damage and disease in garden plants, but damage can also occur in absence of pests. We refer to these diseases as abiotic disorders. Plant pathologists consider abiotic disorders diseases because plants develop symptoms that reflect the changes in their physiology over time. Unlike outbreaks caused by insects or pathogens, abiotic disorders … Continue reading Diagnosing Abiotic Disorders I
You may have read in the news earlier in May that NOAA has updated their “normals” for temperature and precipitation at stations around the country. In climatology, normals are the calculated averages over a specified time period. Usually, we use a 30-year period to capture what the average weather is like in a time period … Continue reading When normal isn’t normal
Extremes Here in California we had an extreme heat event on September 6, 2020. In my yard temperatures peaked at 120 degrees F. This also happened back in 2018 earlier in the summer where we reached a similar peak temperature. It is not supposed to get to be 120 degrees F. in Ojai. This year … Continue reading Extremes
I have been hiding from COVID-19 in Arizona, but I had to return to Ojai, Ca because I was “noticed” by the local fire department to abate my weeds. I returned to find the Weed Apocalypse (WA 2020). Late spring rains were spaced nicely in California supporting rampant weed growth. So, why did this happen? … Continue reading The weed apocalypse
Last week I discussed the mechanics of how cold hardy plants can survive temperatures far below freezing. Today we’ll consider the practical implications of this phenomenon and what, if anything, you can do to help your plants through cold snaps. What happens when temperatures change at unusually high rates? Remember, supercooling occurs when temperatures drop … Continue reading A Gardener’s Primer to Cold Hardiness, Part 2