Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is sunny, blustery, and cold.

It froze last night. Normally we get several light frosts before a heavier one. This year skipped those and went right to 28°F last night.  This was enough to kill outright many of the tender annuals like coleus.  Probably the peppers and eggplants are gone too.  Many others are substantially wilted such as sunflowers and zinnias.  I'm surprised the cherry tomatoes didn't die entirely.  Hardier plants are still going strong including whit alyssum, blue lobelia, and the shithouse marigolds.  The trees, which have lazily dotted the grass with leaves for a couple months, suddenly realized it is fall and have dropped a carpet overnight.

The last of my Breck's shipment arrived in the mail: 15 Enchanted Evening Tulip Mixture.  These are for the purple-and-white garden.  I still have a bunch of the bargain bulbs to plant too, when I have time.

I fed the birds.  I haven't seen any today but they've clearly been eating the seed.

Has it frozen yet where you live?



 

Comments

[topaz_eyes]

Yep! Last Thursday we had lows down to -16C (3F) and highs around -7C (20F) with snow. The Thursday before that, we were at 26C (78F). (This is southern Alberta.) Fall, what's fall?

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Yep! Last Thursday we had lows down to -16C (3F) and highs around -7C (20F) with snow. The Thursday before that, we were at 26C (78F). (This is southern Alberta.) <<

So the sudden snap wasn't just here in Illinois, interesting.

>> Fall, what's fall? <<

My partner Doug grew up in Detroit, and says, "Michigan has 4 seasons too. They're just June, July, August, and Winter." In some parts of Canada, the transitional seasons get compressed to a few days or a week. The animals blow their winter coats in spring, all at once. In fall the free-running water abruptly freezes solid.

Re: Thoughts

[topaz_eyes]

In some parts of Canada, the transitional seasons get compressed to a few days or a week.

Around here, that seems to have been the case for a few years. September was very warm; we started with 31C highs, and after the first week of high 20s to mid-30s, we stayed in the mid to high 20s until Sept 29. In October we averaged around the low to mid 20s until Oct 21 when the cold and snow moved in. The robins hung around until Thanksgiving (Oct 9) this year, when usually they're gone by mid-late September. It's also been very dry.

It is normal for us to have the first snow around Halloween, and major cold/snow by end of November. Looks like we'll be above 0 the rest of the week.

[the_broken_tower]

No freezes yet, but that avocado sapling needs to come inside soon. Still holding out on the growing-but-not-ripe peter peppers. And the strawberries that finally decided to start producing.

- Cobalt Amber (he/him)

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Definitely time to bring those in.

I love looking at peter peppers. :D "Peter Piper picked a peck of ... OMG it's a DICK!"

Re: Yes ...

[the_broken_tower]

Damn, Peter Piper got around--

//sighs// Time to set up the cat barriers again. They will try to eat anything with foliage.

- Cobalt Amber (he/him)

[impala_chick]

Oh man, 28 degrees already? We haven't been frozen here yet, but the temp did drop significantly. I'm still seeing birds at the bird feeder, so I'm keeping it stocked. I'm dreading the time change...

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It's not as cold tonight, but it's also not as late as it was when I checked last night.

Here the birds are clearing out seed from the hopper feeder, but I haven't seen them much.

[pameladean]

It froze here last Friday night -- the first hard frost of the year -- and has been below freezing every night since. The Norway maples on our boulevards went from oblivious green to yellow as fast as ever they could, and the leaves are now falling. Lessening light does not impress the Norway maples one whit, but cold does.

P.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It takes a freeze to bring up the fall colors and bring down the leaves. Though occasionally, an early hard freeze will just turn green leaves black and dump them all at once. Today I noticed the colors were much brighter on the trees. :D And of course the yard is covered in fallen leaves now.