Winter hit us hard (Western European)...

[Exotic Life]

Hi,

This winter is the baddest since i started with exotics since 2003, but also if i remeber me the last winters i can remember a winter like this. Since 22 november 2008 untill now i got only 3 days that the tempetures was above 10C/50F. During december 2008 a cold period was developed on the cards, but this happend every winter but always the milder options won but this time not. The frost started on second christmas day and normally a period is a week or some days more but this time the milder air didn't come to us and it was getting only colder on the forecasts. In the southeast of The Netherlands has got snow and because of that tempetures from -20C/-4F recorded over there... But not only there it was very cold but also at the milder areas it was very cold with tempetures from -8/-10C at the coast. After a long time the frost period was over for me on 10 Januari 2009, on the places with snow a little longer. Milder air was coming but not that mild as normal... and the first real damage pictures shown on the dutch forums. Specially the southeast has got a real hit from king winter with tempetures -20C/-4F for a couple nights and -8C/17,6F by day. Even Trachycarpus has died over there... also i have got real cold tempetures for my area and also i've got damage. The report that i'm writing about is almost finished and i will show it over here then. This was also the same for the countries surround me, Germany has recorded even temperatures from -30C!

I will place some damage pictures from other people from the southeast, there is so much damage!

Later this January a new frost period was here... and that's still over here but not so cold as the first one... now we have also nights without frost and that kind of things. But between this two frost periods, is saw horrible pictures from the south of France and the North west of Spain where a storm with hurricane wind speeds has blowing more then half million trees over there... Even people died over there....

More pictures here... http://growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.php?t=2591

And now yesterday the UK and Spain has got loads of snow... to 20cm in some places into the UK. Snow can be fun for people, but for people like us it are not the best weather conditions. Snow can deliver when the nights going to be clear very low temperatures.... Even London was loaded with snow..

http://headlines.nos.nl/forum.php/list_messages/14045

first movie = London

Second movie = France

Thirth movie = Spain/Portugal...

So we have got enough winter weather over here! Can someone send us some heat so we can start a early spring please, i don't wanna see tempetures below freezing level!

Robbin

[PalmGuyWC]

To our European Friends,

We are sorry to hear of the terrible destruction from your storms. It looks like entire forest have been leveled from the winds, and on top of that you have to contend with the cold. I was just watching TV and they were showing the snow in Paris and London. I'm sure the country side has faired even worse. Our hearts go out to you.

Dick

[kristof p]

yes, this is the worst winter i have ever seen. (born in 1984 so i have little memory of those 80's winters). the end of December and the beginning of Junuari was very cold(coldest -8.5°C) but there seems to be a new cold wave in the make for the second half of februari with simular temps of the previous cold wave ...everything that survived the first cold wave could be killed with the second wave, the fact that the survivors are serieusly weakend from the first cold wave does not give me much hope that they will survive the next one....

this climate sucks! cold and wett during the winter and cold and wett during the summer (if you can call it a summer)

[rozpalm]

Oh Robbin that is so sad. I feel bad for complaining about our colder then average winter.

[Neofolis]

Yep, it's a tad nippy. Everything is white except the palms, which are brown.

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

I'm sorry for your losses. We know that gardening is a capricious activity and much botanic beauty depends upon weather that is "cooperative." One cannot control the weather outside of one's home, and it doesn't do any good to be angry at Nature. When April-May arrives with its crocuses, tulips & daffodils (along with longer periods of sunshine) the local environment perhaps, won't seem as "horrible."

Treat yourself to a movie, or a nice restaurant this week...and try not to let your landscapes get you too upset. Gardening in February (with all the protection, at times, needed) is NOT particularly fun for us, in northern latitudes; March is usually not much better, either, unfortunately!

I try not to look too critically at the often dreary February landscape, because it rarely looks its best now. Your situations will improve when winter of 2009 is a "buried" memory! It just is too darned much winter to adapt to by now; Wea are all pretty much "sick of it!" It's desolate wherever one looks but better days are ahead; a nice warm bath sounds very inviting right now.

New plants will need a good home in June, if some of the current ones "don't make it!" I think, however, that many WILL surprise you with their return to green! They usuallyDO re-green, with any luck at all.

Have a peaceful day; don't worry too much about the gardens' February appearances. New days await all who don't mind waiting patiently for their arrival; this I think I can promise you!

Sincerely,

Paul, The Palm Doctor

[Exotic Life]

This what i mean, since that period we have got relative mild tempetures with a couple time 10C now, this shows only more the real damage. Here are some pictures from somebody in the southeast that has recorded tempetures around the -20C and snow. Lots of gardens with exotics in that area looks like this.

[Exotic Life]

Also in my garden more and more damage can be seen after the milder tempetures, i'm got a couple times -6 to -8 and one time -10C so i don't wanne think about my garden if that has seen -20C. To cold for the plants and for me if normally 75% of the frost nights are between the 0 and -3C. During this period only the Washingtonia robusta en Phoenix canariensis has got protection.

Dead list.

- Agave americana

- Lots of carbotus edulis.

- Cordyline australis "red star"

- Unprotected Washingtonia robusta

- Albizzia lophanta i think, only the trunc is hard.

Damage list.

- Brahea armata lost his spear and all the leafes, so i think it will gonna die also.

- Sabal lost his spear and all the leafes, so i think it will gonna die to.

- Several places in the garden al the musa basjoo truncs frozen back to the ground.

- Agave americana "variegata" leaf damage.

- Butia capiata, some little leaf damage.

- Cycas revoluta, leafes are brown now.

- Nerium oleander leaf damage.

- Cordyline australis rot damage.

[Exotic Life]

And we have lucky now if we compare us weather with the weather in the UK, where they have heavy snowfall and low tempetures. Yesteday was good since a long time, lots of sun and tempetures around the 9-11C. That was feeling good after a long period with cold tempetures, today also sun is shining again but not that high tempetures.

Robbin

[bubba]

A friend of my wife is in Paris right now and she has reported that it is very cold for Paris.She still loves it.

[amazondk]

Not to be negative, but as the next ice age sets in across Western Europe is going to very negatively impacted. The best option for growing tropical plants will be to live in the tropics if one plans on growing tropical plants.

dk

[kristof p]

Don,

the best place to grow tropicals will always be in a tropical climate ....

the weakening N. atlantic gulfstream is something i am very woried about. without this we would be just as cold as eastern canada,brrr

i live at 50°N but because of the gulfstream im in a (cold)temperature zone 9a

[Exotic Life]

I agree Kristof, if that happend i'm sorry but all my palms would die but then i'm gonna move to a warmer part of the world. Winters like Canada, i don't survive that!

About the zone, i'm in the same zone as you are but that not really strange because we have almost got the same tempetures during the winter period.

Robbin

[Exotic Life]

Hmzzz it looks like winter don't want to leave us alone! Temperature felt from almost 9C to 6C in one hour, it's raining a lot and wind is blowing very hard... In the north of the netherlands there it was colder this night and temperature is felt to 0-1C and it's snowing there. Some places over there has got already 3-5 cm of snow.

This morning i saw also the long forecast and it looks a new cold period is really coming now with freezing temperatures during the nights and tempetures below or a little above freezing level during the days.

I was reading this morning that the UK has got heavy snowfall again on some places, but on other places also some flooding warnings. Around Paris they did have got a storm night behine with wind speeds around the 120 kilometer per hour, and that's on his way to Germany now.

Let's pray that spring is coming very soon, because from this weather it don't make me very happy!

Robbin

[madgav]

Hmzzz it looks like winter don't want to leave us alone! Temperature felt from almost 9C to 6C in one hour, it's raining a lot and wind is blowing very hard... In the north of the netherlands there it was colder this night and temperature is felt to 0-1C and it's snowing there. Some places over there has got already 3-5 cm of snow.

This morning i saw also the long forecast and it looks a new cold period is really coming now with freezing temperatures during the nights and tempetures below or a little above freezing level during the days.

I was reading this morning that the UK has got heavy snowfall again on some places, but on other places also some flooding warnings. Around Paris they did have got a storm night behine with wind speeds around the 120 kilometer per hour, and that's on his way to Germany now.

Let's pray that spring is coming very soon, because from this weather it don't make me very happy!

Robbin

Some limited wet snow here, but it's all but gone now. My winter low (so far) of -2.6C (27.4F) hasn't been too bad but it doesn't provide the full picture. With the exception of the Christmas week and a week or two in late January, we have had more or less consistently below average temperatures throughout this winter - which is very unusual, at least based on my experiences over the last 15 years or so.

Gavin.

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