I forgot to mention the mild november of a low of -8! Hopefully march turns out like november and april turns out like september!! Avg high of 25c! ya right!

Yes this sure is nice weather but I just hope it doesn't get too warm as stuff will started budding. THEN one cold snap and a lot of the new buds will be history.

If it turns nice I hope it stays that way.
Last year there was a cold snap on about June 6!
I lost several plants!
Caroline zone 3 Calgary

> Yes this sure is nice weather but I just hope it doesn't get too warm as stuff will started budding. THEN one cold snap and a lot of the new buds will be history.

This risk is greatly overstated in Alberta. We simply don't get the right kind of sun until later in the year to set off bud breaks. It can be 20C out (and it gets like that in Calgary in winter) and nothing will break dormancy.

Well, we're not THAT warm in the east part of Sask, but it's certainly is and has been a tolerable winter, with the exception of some real cold in December and I think 2 storms. Today, again, it is sunny, blue sky, no wind and at the moment, -8C...this kind of winter is fine by me.

I hope snow stays for a while yet, Vancouver seems several weeks
early, this from Feb.20

{{gwi:65633}}

Konrad

I have tulips sprouting along the foundation on the south side of the house. They are only up about an inch and I hope they don't freeze.

It's a little early in Vancouver, but it's not unprecedented.

Consensus seems to be that western Canada will have an early spring.

I'm with you in Calgary - it has been a beautiful few days to relieve that awful fog we had for a few weeks. I still have snow on my garden though - my neighbours always thought I was nuts shovelling snow ONTO my yard!

Environment Canada has just posted the new 3 month outlook and it's for above average temps and below average precipitation - uh oh for the garden. I hope it's not too far below average.

I agree with the rest of you . The weather has been wonderful- bright blue skies plus temps , melting snow. I know that we'll get another snowfall still but at least we can see the end in sight. My sister has been up from London ont and said she forgot how BLUE the sky is here compared to the blue in London.
Question what's with the green letters in the comments with the ads etc.????? Did I miss something?
Last year I started to sing "here comes the sun....." and we got a huge dump so I'm keeping it to myself and so far so good
Take care Lois

I've been having to shovel snow like crazy onto my flower beds, to try and keep my dwarf evergreens covered, as well as some irises I planted last fall. I REALLY don't trust this nice weather...I can imagine most of the snow drying up, and then having a big cold snap again. Last year our trees didn't leaf out FOREVER, because they started opening up, then got frozen. I think that was in May.

Although I'd love an early spring, I'll just be happy if we get a normal spring! Not all cold, and then suddenly into summer. And a half-arsed summer at that. Just have to wait and see I guess!

Just got back from Vancouver. It was lovely to see greens and blooming trees, and magnolia everywhere.

Back in Calgary, I checked my backyard this morning. My bulbs are growing! And tiny green leaves from lady's mantle! Isn't this too early? Are they all going to die when it gets cold again (and it will)? Is there anything I can do at this point? (covering with straw?) Help!

One year when this happened here, i covered my only flower bed at the time with a thick layer of newspaper. Considering how far i've come since then, that would be a formidable task - and i wouldn't have enough paper! LOL I think i would wait until the impending cold snap and then cover with straw - have it ready. :)

Bulbs coming out now is fine. They're very frost resistant. That's why we plant bulbs out here :)

I wouldn't worry about the Lady's Mantle either. It can come out very early. Even if it gets hit by a very cold weather it will come back.

We have poplars and maples budding out right now...I wonder how that will do. And I noticed that some buds on my butterfly magnolia are opening up. As scary as that is, at least it proves that my magnolia has withstood the worst of an Edmonton winter. The craziest part though, is that my windmill palm tree still looks alive after the snow melted off of it. Most of it is still green and none of the spears have pulled.

Oiltown, your growing a windmill palm in Edmonton??? How could it survive after even -20c?? Im very curioes to know what you are doing.

Andres,

I have had it for 4 years from Vancouver and brought it inside every year when it got to be lows of about -15c and put it back outside when the lows wouldn't go below -10c. It was in a pot the whole time. I than planted it in the ground last summer on the south facing wall of my house and it got completely covered in snow over winter till about 2 weeks ago. Its now completely exposed. None of the spears have pulled and about 70% of it is still green so we'll see when it really warms up but I assumed it would be completely brown at this point. The snow probably gave it an extra 10 degrees of warmth. The most a palm has ever taken is -31c in Nashville and the windmill has seen -27 in bulgaria completely exposed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardy_palms

Wow Oiltown I would really like to see pics of it if it pulls through. However, and I hope you prove me wrong, I honestly dont think it could have survived an Edmonton winter. We are just to cold for too long. We got down to -36c in the city center! Maybe the palm is just freeze-dry and thats why its showing green- it probably will turn completly brown in the coming weeks. Either way good luck and please do keep us updated.

The great weather has moved east. We haven't been below 0 in several days now and today the temperature was +16°C! I love it, but i'm worried about what might be to come - will we have a freezing April and May now?

Marcia, that is exactly what I'm worried about as well. Didn't the same thing happen last year? It was all nice, and then we headed back into winter in like...mid April?! I can't remember. I do know that my early tulips were not blooming until June. Grr.

We could use some more moisture here in Saskatchewan. But I'm hoping for some spring rains rather than tons more snow.

I went and checked my garden journal for last year, and yeah, it was similar. Had to laugh at my weather entry for the first week of April:
Hmm, let's see - snow, wet snow, dryer snow, more snow... Well, not quite as bad as it sounds... Most days it struggled above 0°, -10° or above at night. Not great, esp. when you're so sick of winter!
Let's hope this year is better than that!

Our winter was so much milder this year then last year. It is nice to slip on the crocs and go outside instead of winter boots and coats etc. The migrating ducks and geese are right on time this year compared to almost a month late last year. A few more drying days and I will be able to start the spring clean up in the flowerbeds..YAY..Jean

Well, it's now back to reality here in Alberta, some snow and much cooler temps today and the next week isn't looking so great at all ... of course, we knew it just couldn't last! Some areas in Canada continue to hold onto the warmth, I hope it returns here soon!

Terry

Really not a bad day afterall and the forecast is now looking somewhat better :)

Terry

We have a little rollercoaster in Edmonton of weather over the next 2 weeks. Nothing below -9c as a low for all of march and I'm happy. Lets hope! After this next roller coaster coming up it looks like an upward trend. My magnolia is slowing budding out. At least I know its still alive through its first winter! Maybe i'll see flowers in spring and post a picture.

This warm weather has over-heated my foundation plantings and I just finished pulling most of the mulch off the hardy's as new growth was suffocating and some mold had developed. Even the north beds were sprouting like mad. But this is Calgary where the only predictable thing is the unpredictable weather, so I was going to re-mulch. Unfortunately I didn't get it done before last night's frost, which I didn't see coming. I think I've lost a bunch of stuff. Hopefully most of it will come back. Anyone else's gardens suffer from the freeze?

I think everything that has come up at this point is hardy enough to take a couple freezes or will just grow back when it gets warm enough. Looks like we have a very nice 14 day trend developing of double digit weather here in alberta. Funny enough, the east is now seeing the snow we just got also. We must have sent it their way. I'm looking forward to a good April. All positive! I found another horsechestnut here in Edmonton, bringing the total to well over 10 good looking mature specimen. This tree should be a regular planting.

MISERABLE, absolutely MISERABLE near blizzard conditions had blown in yesterday afternoon and now looks like temps are gonna struggle for many days to come and we'll experience some very nippy overnight lows. I'm glad not too many plants had yet really shown themselves, though the lilies around the house will need to be protected, but I don't even much feel like going outside and doing such!

Terry

Terry, I know how you feel about going outside. I have a little side business doing containers and hanging baskets for about 12 folks but the problem is each has anywhere from 6 to 18 containers, including hanging baskets. I've grown Wave purple, pink, and blue, Tidal Wave silver and cherry, Baby Duck Yellow petunias and Bacopa from seed. Two weeks ago, I took all the plants I had growing in the basement under lights and brought them out to my 10' x 18' greenhouse and although I didn't turn on the furnace, I had to turn it on last nite and then listened to it running half the nite. Kaching, Kaching! Money out the window. Three days ago, I walked into Walmart and they just got an order in of 2 1/2" plugs of million bells, osteospermum, diascia, begonia, lobelia and some others, all at $2.00 each so I bought 72 of them and then came home and planted 19 various 12" hanging baskets as well as some assorted sizes of containers so now I have to have the heat on. I've used about 130 plants already, some from the ones I grew from seed and the ones from Walmart. I was great doing containers again but what a surprise with the weather. Stan

Stan, sounds like you're putting together plenty of nice containers and hanging baskets, I sure could use some for my veranda :)

Man, the weather has been lousy the last few days, so cold and that dang strong wind! ... I can't even so much as think of doing anything outside! On the bright side, my seedlings are doing great this spring, now gotta get with sowing the next round of things ...

Terry

Well, it's snowing like mad in southern Alberta right now. I just dug out two feet of snow from the driveway and have about three feet in the backyard.

Weather has been lousy here as well, rain, snow and wind, lots and lots of wind. I guess I don't mind the rain because the farmers sure need the moisture. We didn't get all the snow the folks in the south had though so I'm thankfull for that. On top of the plants that I had purchased at Walmart, I also bought at least a hundred more plugs @$1.99 ea back in the early part of April from a lady that has a greenhouse just north of us here. I havn't let my wife into the greenhouse yet cause I'm sure she'll have a heart attack when she sees how full it is. Stan

We're finally getting some rain here, and about time. Yesterday i was trying to plant some of those iris bulbs and it was just like digging through a hard powder.

I'm going away for the weekend, and i'm sure the weeds will appreciate the rain and be out full force by next week!

Talk about cold weather again returning ... oh, I had forgotten, it's only the May long weekend! There had been a good dump of snow west of Edmonton, though in the Spruce Grove area it was sleet and flurries, ugh just the same! Had gotten in most all the garden just before the rain had arrived, though had not planted the beans or cucumbers nor placed out the tomatoes or peppers, they'd likely go into shock with these near freezing temperatures .... bbbrrr!

Terry

It was some cold out here this morning. Only 1 and again the same for tonite. Glad my tomatoes are in a pot. Don't have a garden but my flowers sure are coming up great. So are the dandelions but I have a bee hive so that is OK with me.

20 c in Thompson MB. Maybe this year we will see a summer.

Only 20...we had 31 and now we might get below 0 at night...
Terry, same here, still waiting for better temp. for tender plants to put in.
Konrad

Konrad, this has really been a very up and down spring ... back and forth between HOT and COLD, snow and wind ...

Terry

Terry and all the gardeners that are experiencing really bad spring weather in Edmonton. When should I plant my potted tomatoes and peppers??? The forecast is not looking very promising. When do you guys plant these crops and tender annuals like cannas, coleus ect.??? When the night temp is above 5c and days get to 15c??? I really want to plant the vegetables soon or we wont get a crop!

As a side note last week when we had great weather with high night time temps I planted 2 patio pots with cannas, coleus, periwinkle and crotons. The coleus is not looking good! I guess I planted too early.

I'm just holding off to see what the next while brings. Normally, I set the tomatoes and peppers out at this time, though I generally cover them in a makeshift greenhouse that I vent during the day and throw blankets over at night if it's cool ... and if it becomes especially cold, I'll place a small heater within.

I'm not starting the bedding plants until after June 1st ...

Terry

It's not too hot here and not too breezy, so it's been perfect planting weather for perennials and shrubs.