How cold was it?
January 21st, 2005 by Kathy Purdy · 7 Comments
This morning it got so cold my wireless min-max thermometer couldn’t record the temperature. It bottoms out at -22 degrees F, but all I know is it got colder than that.
I am adding the following to my collection of garden quotes:
“When you’re hanging on by a thread, identify that thread and do all you can to strengthen it. Gardening is my thread, consistently providing therapy through years of ups and downs. If this blink in time seems a bit crazier, well, perhaps it is. Gardening serves as a gentle reminder that the wheel turns and seasons come and go, each filled with its own impossibly tender beauty.” That’s from an eclectic garden. Nice, huh? This is probably a good time of year to review my whole collection of garden quotes, just for the pleasure of it.
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About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. •
USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural;
Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian
Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level:
intermediate
• Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY
native plants, gardening with/for children
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7 responses so far ↓
1
bill
// Jan 21, 2005 at 6:46 pm
sounds like a good thing to keep in mind
2
Sally
// Jan 21, 2005 at 8:46 pm
Wow. Thanks, Kathy. I have a feeling that I am in some very good company. And yes,with the temperature at less than -22 I’d say this is a perfect time to review garden quotes. A little mental trip to spring and summer!
Sally
3
Dan Eskelson
// Jan 26, 2005 at 6:17 pm
It sounds like your climate is very similar to ours here in north Idaho. We bottomed out at minus 22 deg., but now the “Pineapple Express” has brought warmer weather from the south…a balmy 38 degrees ! Thoughts of spring will be discouraged, though, by several months of cabin fever type conditions.
I’ve enjoyed your blog. Keep up the good work!
4
Kathy
// Feb 1, 2005 at 6:43 pm
Thank you, Dan. My entire familiarity with the climate of northern Idaho is due to reading Judy Miller’s posts on this blog. She gets pretty topsy-turvy weather. Perhaps you’ve read some of her writing here.
5
Laurie Gano
// Feb 7, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Greetings from Sweet Grass county, Montana. I just saw your write-up in Horticulture magazine. It is currently only 4 below zero, with 2″ of very light snow. It does go down to -35 occasionally, so I guess that makes us zone 3. I grow a lot of zone 4 and even zone 5 plants, with some losses every year. I think our lack of consistent snow cover is our biggest problem. I used to cover everything with evergreeen boughs, but for several years I have decided to omit that tedious job and see what survives.I live far out in the country and it is interesting how different my conditions are than my friends in the nearby small town. Anyway, it’s nice to know other gardening fanatics are in my same boat!
6
Kathy
// Feb 8, 2005 at 11:12 am
Hi, Laurie–
Some lucky ones do get consistent snow cover. For someone who’s in your boat, in the mountains with intermittent snow cover, see http://www.rareplantnursery.net/ . Judy Miller, owner of the nursery, is also an occasional contributor to this weblog.
Glad to meet you!
Kathy
7 What is a cold climate? | Cold Climate Gardening // Feb 7, 2008 at 10:03 pm
[...] winter is a balmy -4F(-20C), which is Zone 6! The last time it got colder than -20F(-28.8C) was in 2005, so it’s been warmer than Zone 4 for the last three [...]
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