Yea Andy....

As much as I would love to see more heat induced growth it is nice
to be able to actually stand outside and look at my plants.

That said mid 80s in the forecast with a few 90-95+ temps
thrown in for good measure-can't complain!

However.......

Look at the differences in temps and precip from last year!

2010 April-48/71 /3.44"---- May-54/74 /4.18"---- June-54/87 /7.42"
2011 April-52/62 /2.29"---- May-53/74 /5.58"---- June-53/80 /7.73"
------------------------------------------------------------

Basically,nothing started growing until May!
April of 2010 really stands out,almost no way to make up
for a such a warm start!

I think I might move some of my stuff to the south side of my house during the week when I am at work. They will get a few less hours of sun in the evening but it is MUCH warmer there. My house is brick so it can easily be 10 degrees warmer then the middle of my back yard. Enjoy the pleasant weather. I get home, start the grill, sit in my gravity chair and listen to the first place Tigers.

Sounds like a good plan!

My Cardinals are slumping right now but not
out of it.

Wish I had a south facing brick wall here...
most of the year anyway!

Jim-
A little warmer here today and not a cloud in the sky and the humidity is only 29%. 84 tomorrow and I will be taking my boy to the Tigers game. 90 on Saturday with some humidity. It looks like the air conditioning will be going on agian.

Its been a cool start to summer, but things are warming up now! Looks like upper 80s and the humidity has been very high (especially in the morning, the windows have been fogging up).
My plants are way behing from last year, but they are doing well.
-Alex

wish I could send some heat your way.

next three days
103,103,102 mondays actual was 106. Heat indexes in the 110+ We dont normally see these high temps until late July early August. I cant wait to see how hot it is then. The bananas are loving it though.

mike

We're going to see an up tick here over the next week. 87 today with a low of 73 tonight and 92 tommorow. We have some storms heading our way so I hope we get some rain (as long as it is over by 7:00, taking my 11 yeard old to the Tigers game). If we get rain and it hits 92 tomorrow I'll see instant growth. It will cool down again but still be in the mid 80s.

95 here yesterday,maybe around 100 today?

The thing that was really rough was that the dewpoint
was 81 !

That creates a heat index of 116 with humidity of 64% @ 95f !

Last June we had a 3 day stretch with dewpoints of 86!

The Indians must have slept in lakes or rivers,can't imagine
getting used to that!

Just finished vacation and a hot one it was. Starting Friday it was 89 99 85 89 89 89 much cooler today was 62 this morning heading to 83 but then back to high 80s for the weekend. Growth rate has EXPlODED. unfortuneately we are also in a drought. We have hardly had a hint of rain in two weeks and everthing is brown. I've had to really water the palms and my garden. My air has been on for 6 days. I like seeing the growth but it really has been hot. 99 last Saturday was the hottest actual temperature in 20 years. We did have some higher heat indexes last summer but it never got above 97.

Fairly normal so far (upper 80's/90, low's upper 60's/70 F.) and only moderate humidity. All in all, fairly 'normal'--which has come to be abnormal with the last few years of CRAZY weather (whatever the season). Last summer was insanely hot and dry--to the point the tropicals STOP growing and show signs of stress. But I notice regularly, that I see my best/fastest tropical growth in August. We have to consider things from a plant's perspective, most of our tropicals have been in the house under reduced light during the colder months (for Northern growers). It takes several weeks for them to kick into gear--especially given the awful May we had! If your heat is not adequate, exploit those microclimates around your house and yard. Remember, official temps are always taken in the SHADE, at a specific height above the ground. Put a thermometer outside in one of plants, in one of those black, plastic pots, along the south side of your home or on a blacktop drive way--you will be very surprised. I find my tropicals grow best at moderate warmth and actually slow down in excessive heat.

What I find is the growth is quickest when the overnight lows stay in the 70s. Typically even when in the high 80s here it still falls to the mid 60s at night. The fastest 24 hour growht I have ever noticed is when we have fallen to the mid-high 70s at night. That is when I really get an appreciation for how fast they must grown in the south and Hawaii. All of my palms are potted so I keep the soil really moist when it is hot likes it's been. 99 was the hottest they have ever seen and they did fine. I'm sure if they were in the ground that may not be the case. Starting in the begining of August I start to slowly move them so they continue to get the same hours of daylight. No matter how much you water and fertilize NOTHING takes the place of real rain and there has not been a drop of that at my house. Some people north and south of me got it last Saturday when the cool front moved in and took the 99 degree heat with it. I think I can use some fans to cool my house tonight and give the air a break before high 80s come back Saturday.

Andy, I hear you about the rain. It may be my imagination, but I remember the so-called pop up variety of thunderstorm to have been MUCH more common years ago. Weather "seems" normal but bet we are going to get ourselves into one of these nasty droughts again on the East coast (like last year). I agree with you about plants responding well to natural rain. August USED to be our wettest month (very tropical), now it seems more likely to bring DROUGHT conditions. PS., If you think mid 70's is low for overnight lows, go to South Florida when overnight lows this time of year are typically closer to 80F.

I know how warm it stays at night in south Florida I can't imagine leaving the house in the morning and it being 83 already. I believe 80 is THE record over night low around here. Even on our hottest days it usually drops to about 71. We hit a low of 69 last Friday night/Saturday morning, hit 99 Saturday and then it fell to 71 Saturday night/Sunday morning. Hopefully we'll both get some rain soon. I have a back yard of hay, I am just watering the garden (tomatoes, peppers, beans, and Giant pumpkins), my palms and my bananas and ferns that are in the ground.

Accuweather has us near 100f from mid July out a ways.

They are usually wrong that far out...not sure if I would
want it that hot but it sure would put things right on the way to
catching up after our cool spring!

No 100s here in the forecast although I did predeict in early June when we hit 96 one day that we would see a couple of 100 degree days this summer. We came close last Saturday at 99. Yesterday we had a comfortable 82 and I was able to open my windows last night and with the help of fans got it down to 67 in the house. It was a one day cool down as it is 86 right now. Next 10 days call for
88 90 88 84 80 82 87 89 86. We still have seen no rain and our precipitaion chance the next three days is 0% All of my palms have really hit their stride. I did not think 3 new fronds for the cocnuts was possible after June but if this keeps up and August comes through they have a chance. Everyone enjoy the heat and watch the growth.

We are into straight up summertime weather with high
humidity,puffy summer clouds and temps touching 90 everyday.

Still saying near 100 for late next week on......

If this happens and lasts a week to 10 days(or more??) the Thai giant
should really go crazy(along with the other heat loving plants!)should be fun to watch!

89 Saturday and 93 Sunday, Everything has its "mojo going" We are finally getting a little rain today and we are still supposed to hit 92 today and tomorrow and them 80 for a couple of days. Back into the high 80s by the weekend but much more humid. It was 93 yesterday but the humidity was about 30% I'm glad I may get a breat from having to water everything daily.