Return to the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
Posted by digit ID/WA (My Page) on Sun, Oct 4, 09 at 12:02
| There's more to gardening than climate. Soil rates right up there and here in the arid interior West, so does irrigation . . . oh, I guess I'm back to climate.
I recently learned that the place I grew up, in the Rogue Valley of Oregon, has what is defined as a year-around Mediterranean climate. I guess that the California white oaks, madrones and pine should have been a give away.
I've been thinking that Mediterranean varieties of annuals, of an early-maturing nature, may be BEST suited for my annual gardens. It prompted the question: if you just considered the growing season, where else would this Mediterranean climate exist?
First off, there's such a thing as a year-around "Continental Mediterranean climate." Wikipedia claims that it exists in southeast France, northern Spain, and some of the higher elevation areas of Greece, Turkey, and Iran.
Let's just take the June, July and August temperatures and rainfall of a couple cities in the West and at that of Burgos, Spain.
Burgos: temperatures (in °F) highs: 72, 79, 81, lows: 46, 52, 52, precipitation (in inches): 1.8, 1.2, 1.1
Denver: temperatures (in °F) highs: 80, 86, 87, lows: 56, 62, 61, precipitation (in inches): 1.5, 1.5, 1.0
Spokane: temperatures (in °F) highs: 74, 82, 83, lows: 49, 55, 55, precipitation (in inches): 1.2, .8, .7
Denver is a little warmer than Burgos. Spokane is a little drier.
Now don't rush out and plant citrus trees. But, I just wonder what gardeners in Burgos, and other areas of the world that we wouldn't normally think of as similar to ours, are planting in their annual gardens.
Steve |
Follow-Up Postings:
Thessaloniki, Greece
| | |
| And for those of you who know that I grow Thessaloniki tomatoes in my garden, you see "where I'm coming from" on all of this. Thessaloniki, Greece: temperatures (in °F) highs: 84, 88, 87, lows: 62, 66, 65, precipitation (in inches): 1.2, .8, .8 :o) |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Here we got highs of : 83.4ºF, 88.8ºF, 86.3ªF, lows of 46.1ªF, 54.2ªF, 53.0ºF, and 0.45", 1.18", 1.53" for precipitation. The 'lows' are what makes this place 'tomato challenged'. They spend the night in the refrigerator. |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Hey guys, what website are you finding those numbers at? All of the weather websites that I am familiar with, only let you go back one month, though Accuweather will give you 12 months of historical weather data for a fee. I suspect my numbers will be pretty similar to David's though. Bonnie |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Bonnie, if you look back up there in the first post, you'll see: "a couple cities in the West" - clicking on that will take you to "Comparative Data for the Western States." Glennwood Springs in June, July and August, for example: temperatures (in °F) highs: 82, 89, 86, lows: 44, 51, 50, precipitation (in inches): 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 A tad warmer during overnight hours than David's. And David starts off really dry (dry Spring?). digitS' |
d yr nnls njy Mdtrrnn clmt?
| | |
| I should have said a tad cooler than David's garden. Why oh why, doesn't GW have editing? d'S' |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Thanks, Steve! I didn't realize the chart was clickable. Glenwood Springs is just a tad higher in elevation than us, so we might be a degree higher than that. They are also tucked in snugly between two mountain ridges, so they get more precipitation than we do. In the summer, you can watch the rain clouds sliding along the ridge across from us, headed towards them, but usually missing us all together. In the spring and fall, sometimes when we get rain, they'll get snow, and our snowpack melts a couple weeks before theirs in the spring. Funny how much difference 20 miles can make. Bonnie |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Do you suppose that RMG could recruit a member to visit the Mediterranean and do some really, really serious research on annual plant varieties during the "off-season?" I mean, a thorough 6 months in, let's say, Spain, the south of France, northern Italy and Greece could do wonders for a data-base. Those are only 4 locations so this may not be too onerous a task to assign to someone with some free time. It was 27.5 °F at the little weather station between my big veggie garden and dahlia garden this morning. The little veggie and cutting garden got "fried" yesterday. That was a surprise but frost often occurs in the other 2 gardens weeks before now. Cleanup shouldn't take long. Steve |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| The first two weeks of August that my husband and daughter were in Spain the temperatures were, on average, 104 degrees during the day and nights were in the 60s. That would be more like Pueblo than Denver or Colorado Springs. However, I would be happy to spend six months or a year gathering data in Spain. Hmmmm...sounds like a field trip to me. |
RE: do your annuals enjoy a Mediterranean climate?
| | |
| Karen, we must go north of Madrid . . . at least, to check out the garden centers. I've never been to Burgos nor to Spain. Pamplona is a nearby city. Thousands of tourists show up every year in Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls! But that's in July. During the winter months perhaps a good thing to do is hang out at the tapas bars (to talk with the local gardeners). They are reported to be the best you will find in that part of the world. The main square in Pamplona is surrounded by cafes and should be pleasant for coffee and cake and conversation. Steve |
|
|
|
|
