Rainshine

• Posted on 31 October 2019
• 0

Extended one week! EarthMix® Garden™ Giveaway; get a free bag of Garden™ with every $50 worth of plants!

As October departs for 2019, it is worth taking note on what we have covered in just a month, and where we’re headed in the days ahead.  In our last week of August, a.k.a. the first week of October, we had a string of record-breaking heat wave days.  As the daily temperatures hovered near 100 degrees, the parched dry soil seemed to suck the life out of many oak trees in our woodland areas, as their toasted foliage turned a brittle brown.  Wildfires were certainly a concern with the tinderbox like conditions.

A week into the month brings hope.  Most locations in the area received nearly 4 inches of rainfall…with nearly no runoff.  The near-century mark daytime high temperatures finally gave way to the eighties. Fortunately, the pall that seemed to hang on from the summer past was lifting.  Hope falls eternal. 

Indeed the hope for fall gained momentum the last half of the month.  With no ninety-degree temperatures since October 5, and no eighty degrees days since October 11, we received our first ‘taste’ of fall on October 17, when the high only reached 62 degrees.  In addition to the welcome seasonal temperature changes, we have continued to receive significant rainfall. 

Closing the month out, many of us are receiving another two inches of rainfall, and with the flipping of the calendar tomorrow; another significant dip in the mercury is in store.  November begins more than forty degrees cooler than did October, and the drought conditions that existed only a month ago, have now passed.  The wonderful October-ending rains transition to fifty degree days and sunshine, or if you prefer, Rainshine.  This will also bring our first freezing nights for the fall season as well.  The next several nights may each fall into the freezing range, if you have tender vegetation: be prepared!

Since the prime time of fall has finally arrived, we are well equipped for your gardening needs.  Cool season color, trees, shrubs, perennials, and expertise.

David Bates