Jump to content
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT LOGGING IN ×
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

Winter down under


cbmnz

Recommended Posts

Snow on Bluff Knoll today  Tyrone ?
Thats some serious cold in SW WA at low elevations for 3.30pm !
Capture.JPG.022d92236d7629bfdc94f5ee9269771e.JPG

Edited by greysrigging
addition to post.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just had a piece of polar vortex pass over.  Monday was sunny but very cool breeze, got to 11C due to sun only. Wind was blowing 30km/hr at 6pm which made getting all my covers on very tricky, but it died to dead calm by 8pm! Could have used it staying up all night since had blown all day.. Temperature had dropped to -2.3C by dawn,  quite cold for this late in the winter. Got smarter about my protection methods since July, no further damage, no spotting this time. My "indicator bucket" did not freeze over like it did in July (it's actually there because have a slow drip from the spouting and don't want it damaging the concrete).

Beaut day followed, got up to 16.1 today.
A long period of SW to NW winds will keep next 10 days at least, frost free then will almost be in September when it should start warming.

@sipalms

may have got a few snow flurries from the system but no hard frost

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, greysrigging said:

Snow on Bluff Knoll today  Tyrone ?
Thats some serious cold in SW WA at low elevations for 3.30pm !
Capture.JPG.022d92236d7629bfdc94f5ee9269771e.JPG

Rocky Gully is quite a way inland and bleak in winter weather like this.

Was just about to post how cold it is and that it got to 11.7C today with 18mm of rain and hail but you beat me too it. I drove home at 4.45pm and it was 6C! So over this. 

There would have to be snow on the Stirlings today. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Monday was the coldest day of the year here, with the temperature hanging around 3-5 degrees all day. We had multiple snow flurries, but nothing settled in the city.

However, believe it or not, the night was mild and frost free, and todays high was 17 degrees and sunny. The rest of the week is in the mid to late teens with no frost, but another cold snap coming this weekend.

Here's a few pics I took out the plane window after takeoff from Christchurch this morning:

2024210489_20210810_101016(1).jpg.edc404df33324854a016ecad753eed4c.jpg

232039585_20210810_101520(1).jpg.4cfcc4f1d6be23ccd0173543152d5181.jpg

1102257764_20210810_101840(1).jpg.ae66ac1dbd3517fc9d14eee084b8329a.jpg

1431621517_20210810_101943(1).jpg.6e5f79aea65572bb6797ee68ff450389.jpg

 

  • Like 8
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, sipalms said:

Monday was the coldest day of the year here, with the temperature hanging around 3-5 degrees all day. We had multiple snow flurries, but nothing settled in the city.

However, believe it or not, the night was mild and frost free, and todays high was 17 degrees and sunny. The rest of the week is in the mid to late teens with no frost, but another cold snap coming this weekend.

Here's a few pics I took out the plane window after takeoff from Christchurch this morning:

2024210489_20210810_101016(1).jpg.edc404df33324854a016ecad753eed4c.jpg

232039585_20210810_101520(1).jpg.4cfcc4f1d6be23ccd0173543152d5181.jpg

1102257764_20210810_101840(1).jpg.ae66ac1dbd3517fc9d14eee084b8329a.jpg

1431621517_20210810_101943(1).jpg.6e5f79aea65572bb6797ee68ff450389.jpg

 

Wow. Stunning pics. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I got it wrong. Our max yesterday was 9.7C not 11.8C. The 11.8C was at midnight and the temp dropped all night then spiked up to 9.7C just after 8am to then keep dropping all day to just below 6C last night. Then around 3am the temp started rising again. At sun up it’s a balmy 7.4C now. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Perth only got to 15c yesterday, bloody cold! We had rain, hail and strong winds, it's been an amazing winter. I think today is supposed to get to 18c but at 9.30am it's only 11c so we'll see.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday was the coldest day of the year. First day below 11C, and it was hailing and very windy. Even with the fire going it was cold inside. The insulation I put in the roof is rated for Canberra too. 

  • Like 1

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Actually I got it wrong. Our max yesterday was 9.7C not 11.8C. The 11.8C was at midnight and the temp dropped all night then spiked up to 9.7C just after 8am to then keep dropping all day to just below 6C last night. Then around 3am the temp started rising again. At sun up it’s a balmy 7.4C now. 

Remember that in Australia both max and min temps are recorded over a 24 hour period between the two 9.00ams. In the States its measured midnight to midnight on the same day.  Rainfall in AU is also measured over 24 hours at 9.00am and the tally goes down in the books on the date it is measured, whereas the temp recordings, for example, measured  between 9.00am on the 10th and 9.00am on the 11th are recorded as the 10th's max/min.
This 9.00am reset often cruels what we think of as a cold or even record cold day, because often after the passage of a front during daylight hours on the 10th, well it may have warmed some by 8.59am on the 11th.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Theres a few FB videos getting around of snow on Bluff Knoll yesterday as well .
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/snow-falls-on-bluff-knoll-as-temperatures-plummet-across-was-south/534758
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/elated-hikers-score-snow-as-cold-air-blasts-wa/534763
 

Edited by greysrigging
addition to post.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heading for a sunny top of 24c today, a pleasant day compared to some of the weather we've had this winter.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20C and sun down here. Cold nights but sunny clear days. A nice change to the gloom and wet windy weather. 

  • Like 1

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It got to 23.5C today and it looks even warmer tomorrow. Liking this. 

  • Like 1

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

It got to 23.5C today and it looks even warmer tomorrow. Liking this. 

Managed to hit 25c today, an absolutely beautiful day. Heading for 23c tomorrow at this stage but might be lucky and get a touch warmer. I could get used to this! Looking ahead it seems we'll get some rain later in the week but the temps are looking a bit warmer than they have been, maybe my big coconut will survive after all, I suppose I'll know in a few weeks.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s been a long wet winter, but the nice warmth will disappear soon and we will be back to winter. At least the rain has cut back a lot but I still can’t mow the lawn. Maybe in September most of it will have dried out enough to drive a mower on without bogging or just ripping the lawn to shreds.

  • Like 1

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ended up getting to just under 26c today but the rain comes back tomorrow with an expected high of 18c, winters not over yet!

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We got to 23.7C yesterday. Rain is back today with forecast high of 18C. But you can smell a change in the air. Spring is just around the corner. In two days we won’t feel it, but spring like weather will be more common than winter like weather in just a few weeks. The end of the first week in September spells then end of potential frosts and so far we have had nothing more than a bit of light frost on the exposed bits of lawn. With rain and moist weather forecast until the end of the month I think we will see no real frost this winter. I’ve already been planting out Nikaus for the last couple of months but I can start planting out more Archontophoenix come early September. I have so many plans for new garden areas. 

  • Like 2

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a frost forecast for Thursday morning but low 1.0C so it didn't quite eventute.  Still a risk for rest of August but the clear nights start to become +1 and +2 mins from here on unless get a really cold dry Southerly through. Thinking it's a bit  50/50 now whether the A. Alexandrae will make it, the remaining two green fronds slowly getting more and more black on them. The Cunninghamia by comparison are good, stable since the frosts in July. Think I have proven the Cunninghamia more tolerant of a longer period of cool weather and lower soil temps. Will give the Alexandrae till Dec to show some signs of new growth however.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/18/2021 at 11:16 AM, Tyrone said:

We got to 23.7C yesterday. Rain is back today with forecast high of 18C. But you can smell a change in the air. Spring is just around the corner. In two days we won’t feel it, but spring like weather will be more common than winter like weather in just a few weeks. The end of the first week in September spells then end of potential frosts and so far we have had nothing more than a bit of light frost on the exposed bits of lawn. With rain and moist weather forecast until the end of the month I think we will see no real frost this winter. I’ve already been planting out Nikaus for the last couple of months but I can start planting out more Archontophoenix come early September. I have so many plans for new garden areas. 

While you did have a frost last winter that's something I never get here ,which is whole winter without a proper frost. 2019 with one -2.0C was mildest  of last few yests. At least it kills some bugs, the white butterfly, houseflies and mosquitoes are all gone and won't come back untill November or so.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The last couple of weeks have been drier than the previous few months but today we went past 900mm for the calendar year. More heavy rain is on the forecast though.  

  • Like 1

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Noticed the banana has resumed growth, looks to have grown 1cm or so today, visible as this morning I re-trimmed the stem of what was the newest leaf when I cut in July after all leaves were toasted.  There were signs the next leaf was trying to push up but was blocked at end, was starting to burst out the side.

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its kind of hard to see from photos but this group of my bananas took some frost damage but they should be sweet and hopefully put out some fruit. One plant in a different  group further uphill has a small bunch.

a100_8668.jpg

100_8674.JPG

Edited by PalmCode
  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What type of bananas are they?

Its basically impossible to get any banana into this country. So it’s William cavendish for us or nothing. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Tyrone said:

What type of bananas are they?

Its basically impossible to get any banana into this country. So it’s William cavendish for us or nothing. 

They are Musa acuminata 'Lady Finger'... You'd have that verity there right?

Edited by PalmCode
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, PalmCode said:

They are Musa acuminata 'Lady Finger'... You'd have that verity there right?

I’ve seen them available in the grocery section of shops in Australia but as for the plant all we can buy is William cavendish or what’s locally called the “Carnarvon banana”. 

I don’t know if you have a banana industry in NZ but we do in Australia and WA so the authorities here are exceedingly tight on what they let in if there is even the remotest chance of hybridisation or disease happening. 

  • Like 2

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Tyrone said:

What type of bananas are they?

Its basically impossible to get any banana into this country. So it’s William cavendish for us or nothing. 

Are the William Cavendish bananas the same as Dwarf Cavendish bananas? Or are they two different cultivars?

Here's my Dwarf Cavendish a few days ago for comparison. I didn't realise Oz had such strict rules regarding bananas. So you guys can't get hold of Musa Basjoo or Ensete Maurelii...?

3CC5AC9E-1D3B-4D7C-BED5-3A90499ACF22.thumb.jpeg.40690b157c7c451bb47be510387d00bd.jpg.3319fb1b2c42e120ae3bc40b391e6492.jpg

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Are the William Cavendish bananas the same as Dwarf Cavendish bananas? Or are they two different cultivars?

Here's my Dwarf Cavendish a few days ago for comparison. I didn't realise Oz had such strict rules regarding bananas. So you guys can't get hold of Musa Basjoo or Ensete Maurelii...?

3CC5AC9E-1D3B-4D7C-BED5-3A90499ACF22.thumb.jpeg.40690b157c7c451bb47be510387d00bd.jpg.3319fb1b2c42e120ae3bc40b391e6492.jpg

Ensete Maurelii, are quite common in gardens around older houses here, but I have not seen any for sale,  some nurseries do list it but stock always seems a bit short. A neighbour's up the road lived through last two winters before this one with minimal damage but has died back this year, but not to the ground, will shoot away again once it gets warm. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/23/2021 at 11:43 AM, PalmCode said:

Its kind of hard to see from photos but this group of my bananas took some frost damage but they should be sweet and hopefully put out some fruit. One plant in a different  group further uphill has a small bunch.

a100_8668.jpg

100_8674.JPG

Hope yours taste better than mine did, I cut the bunch , while still green in June as proper frosts were coming. After a few weeks indoors  the tiny bananas all turned yellow, they were edible but had no sugars or flavour at all, tasted of nothing.  Mine is a ladyfinger -  Musi Luki so they are supposed to be quite tasty. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Hope yours taste better than mine did, I cut the bunch , while still green in June as proper frosts were coming. After a few weeks indoors  the tiny bananas all turned yellow, they were edible but had no sugars or flavour at all, tasted of nothing.  Mine is a ladyfinger -  Musi Luki so they are supposed to be quite tasty. 

These are very hit or miss for me.
I'm learning but I think when they're fruiting in Autumn, heading into winter, when frosts hit and fruit show no signs of yellow You're probably better off leaving the bunch on the palm to extract as much nutrients into the fruit.

Honestly, the luck of getting the Banana to flower early spring for the summer is the best.
 Also youre supposed to control the amount of new pups but i dont bother.  I like the crowded look of a group. Hope you get better luck next time they are extremely nice to eat. 

 

Ensete Maurelii are monsters. I get tons of seed then plants off my ones here, more than i know what to do with. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by PalmCode
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Are the William Cavendish bananas the same as Dwarf Cavendish bananas? Or are they two different cultivars?

Here's my Dwarf Cavendish a few days ago for comparison. I didn't realise Oz had such strict rules regarding bananas. So you guys can't get hold of Musa Basjoo or Ensete Maurelii...?

3CC5AC9E-1D3B-4D7C-BED5-3A90499ACF22.thumb.jpeg.40690b157c7c451bb47be510387d00bd.jpg.3319fb1b2c42e120ae3bc40b391e6492.jpg

Can’t get any Ensete here anymore. I think dwarf cavendish and William cavendish are the same roughly. 

I remember seeing red Ensetes for sale in Tesco’s in London and remarking that it’s easier to get different bananas in the UK than Australia.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Can’t get any Ensete here anymore. I think dwarf cavendish and William cavendish are the same roughly. 

I remember seeing red Ensetes for sale in Tesco’s in London and remarking that it’s easier to get different bananas in the UK than Australia.

Really, that sucks. Ensete Maurelii is probably the most attractive banana and the best for adding colour to the garden. Can you not import banana seeds either? Surely someone in WA must have them growing in their garden already too, in which case are they breaking the law by growing them, given the strict laws or regulations?

Bananas seem to be easier to obtain here than palms this year. There is a severe palm shortage over here right now. Even small CIDP's and Washies are hard to come by. The online retailers have sold out of pretty much everything except Trachy's and you will be lucky to find a CIDP or washie in a garden centre now. Brexit, the pandemic and requirements for phytosanitary certificates on every plant entering the UK, as well as mandatory 2 year quarantines for all palm imports has left a massive, gaping hole in the market this year.

Similar to the strict banana laws in Oz, we now have ridiculous, over the top palm import laws that have come into effect this year. Any palms entering the UK need to have been quarantined in isolation in a registered facility for 2 years and accompanied with a plant passport, phytosanitary certificate and further paperwork. Even for a single CIDP seedling being posted to the UK.

Therefore European suppliers aren't supplying the UK anymore, since it costs them money to set up quarantine areas and to hold onto stock for at least 2 years, then to pay for inspections and then pay further again for a stupid phytosanitary certificate and plant passport. It's ridiculous and a total inconvenience. Bananas don't require a quarantine, but they do need phytosanitary certificates and plant passports to be shipped over here, which may cause problems with our banana stocks next year. Time will tell. 

 

6 hours ago, PalmCode said:

Ensete Maurelii are monsters. I get tons of seed then plants off my ones here, more than i know what to do with. 

Here are some pictures of my Maurelii's that I took a few days ago. They have done surprisingly well, given how crap our spring and summer has been this year. It seems bananas don't need that much heat to grow, unlike a lot of palms. I think my Maurelii's have actually outperformed the Musa Basjoo this year. I am going to have to protect these heavily this winter as I don't want to risk losing them. Do you have to protect Maurelii's over winter in Auckland?

thumbnail_image1-41.thumb.jpg.5595aed82e79ae03556d60f3a25a6b46.jpg

thumbnail_image0-60.thumb.jpg.ce792ae46a12fc580d0d4fe35a06eda4.jpg

  • Like 2

Dry-summer Oceanic climate (9a)

Average annual precipitation - 18.7 inches : Average annual sunshine hours - 1725

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can’t legally import Musa or Ensete seed into Oz and haven’t probably been able to do it for at least 20 years. The process if you do want to go down that path is to get a quarantine facility to germinate them for you and a percentage then need to be sacrificed so they can look with an electron microscope to see if they have any viruses. Very costly and not worth it. Ensete ventracosum used to be available here about 20 years ago but supply just dried up. I even had one set seed but over time the seedlings died out. I haven’t seen one available in years. Maybe someone somewhere has one or two in a collection but you’d have to be in the know. As for getting any plant into the country you must have them sit in a quarantine facility for a specified time where the staff attempt to kill the plants at great cost to the importer. Quarantine facilities are akin to medieval hospitals. Healthy plants go in and come out dead. Again not worth it. 

So different types of bananas will never be seen in WA.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had a record August run of 15 consecutive days over 20c. That all ended yesterday with the coldest day since 1984! The max at Observatory Hill was 10.2c.

  • Upvote 1

Philip Wright

Sydney southern suburbs

Frost-free within 20 km of coast

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rain, glorious rain ! The first of the season. Some PWS out in Palmerston and Howard Springs are reporting over 2" ( 50mm ) in several showers from mid afternoon and overnight.
Darwin Airport scored a very nice drop of 19mm. My gauge in Leanyer Heights ( Northern Suburbs ) only 12mm, but August rain ? Hell yeah, I'll take it !
sEEU2HH.jpg.79894b711d171557d115b4567b09feeb.jpg195999537_6k5R4Xp(1).jpg.b1f848099e9c750c1c316a70c1b5a92d.jpg
And, would you believe, there is a Total Fire Ban for Darwin and Adelaide River Districts as a dry surge pushes in today, clearing the showers away with gusty south easterlies and a forecast top temp of 34c.
YMwSzt0.jpg.9346c488b22f1e2af8dbd8327ea3e6c6.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@UK_Palms

Shoot sorry, I miss took Ensete Maurelii for Ensete ventricosum. I haven't grown the red verity before but i would like to try, they certainly look way nicer as your ones do. I have seen a few large ones growing in the area. Will look out for any small ones for sale... As far as ventricosum go I don't need to protect mine from frost. The more exposed ones might get a little browning but nothing to worry about they bounce back fine. 

 

aa54277761_312218679439148_8286130711677632512_n.jpg

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Rain, glorious rain ! The first of the season. Some PWS out in Palmerston and Howard Springs are reporting over 2" ( 50mm ) in several showers from mid afternoon and overnight.
Darwin Airport scored a very nice drop of 19mm. My gauge in Leanyer Heights ( Northern Suburbs ) only 12mm, but August rain ? Hell yeah, I'll take it !

And, would you believe, there is a Total Fire Ban for Darwin and Adelaide River Districts as a dry surge pushes in today, clearing the showers away with gusty south easterlies and a forecast top temp of 34c.

Got 2mm out of that, just before midnight. Some unofficial readings were over 70mm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

Got 2mm out of that, just before midnight. Some unofficial readings were over 70mm.

Early rain for you guys. They were saying an early monsoon up your way so I suppose an early buildup is imminent. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tyrone said:

Early rain for you guys. They were saying an early monsoon up your way so I suppose an early buildup is imminent. 

August showers are not unheard of, but reports filtering in of over 70mm at Howard Springs and over 50mm out Humpty Doo way.  Pretty good drop for a dry season month.  The 19mm at the Airport was the wettest August day since 1988.
The 'dry' is back for the next few days, we have a Total Fire Ban today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...