Already Christmas and never winter

[muckefuck]

Okay, I think the point has come where the unseasonably mild weather has crossed over from unexpectedly charming to just plain uncanny. I am literally having trouble remembering what time of year it is when I go outside. My senses tell me it must be early spring or late fall and my brain has to keep reminding itself what it says on the calendar. I'll admit, there is something to be said for not having my nose hairs freeze together on the way to work in the morning, but there comes a time when you begin to worry about the environmental effects of all this warmth and lack of moisture.

For one thing, the plants simply don't know what to do. I saw daffodils coming up on the south-facing side of a building across the street and I've come across shrubs which look like they're in bud. Although we officially had some hard frosts in December, none of them seem to have reached our backyard because the mesclun was still standing unwilted up until New Year's Day. Equally worrying is the lack of snow cover, which both protects rootstocks from the cold and helps keep the soil from drying out.

With that in mind, I attacked the Christmas tree with a pruner last night and piled the branches up atop the Mediterranean herbs in our plot. The verbena looks like a goner again but perhaps we can still save the thyme and the rosemary. The one really good effect of the mild temps is that we can keep adding to the composter. When it's below freezing, the rotting comes nearly to halt and we eventually have to start pitching our kitchen garbage in the dumpster. But there was plenty of room for all the incense cedar monshu used to decorate the house.

I also can't stand seeing the exposed earth in the front yard. Streets and San has finally finished their sidewalk work and slapdashedly piled new dirt into the gaps, which makes me really want to get out there to smooth it out, pull out the chunks of concrete, and plant some stuff. But there's really not much point in doing that right now--especially when you know that at any time the weather could turn and winter could arrive at last.

Comments

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

And out here our winter rainy season has more or less totally failed, at least so far. It's beautiful out - just had lunch outdoors (though I kept my lightweight jacket on). Could be a huge problem for us later in the year though.

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

The weather here is unseasonably warm, still in the 60s during the day. No rain for two months. It's as if the season have been delayed by a month and a half.

Chuck

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

There's new growth busting out all over the ivy in my back yard. Of course, that stuff would probably survive a nuclear holocaust (it was very blase about my attempt to kill it all a few years ago), so I'm not too worried about it.