North Pole Weather 7/22/13

Pineapple sage

The sun rose today at 4:18 in the morning, and will set almost 19 hours 17 minutes later, at 11:34 this evening. We’re back to the rapid shortening of days, losing over 6 minutes a day—almost seven, by the start of next week. Solar elevation at the highest is barely below 45°, and the rains have finally arrived. For the moment, they’ve left again, but probably not for long.

Herb bed and bordering flowers

Yes, it turned cool and wet. Last week, while I was feeling disinclined to do anything but spend 20 hours a day in bed, it was hot and dry, and by the time I managed to dredge up enough energy to water the pot plants on Wednesday, the pineapple sage looked as if it was on its last legs —

Salmon Lynchis

sticks and dead leaves. That is one tough plant, as well as one that smalls wonderful, because by Thursday you’d never know it was even wilted. Thursday Sheila came over and watered everything (as well as doing a lot of weeding) so of course it’s been raining since Thursday night. Then Friday she put down fresh weed-stop between the raised beds, as well as taking me to the cancer center for tests.Saturday we had a few brief peeks at the sun, and by Sunday it was peeking out often enough I could take some pictures.Today so far there’s hardly a cloud in the sky.

I’ve made some changes in the garden. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve planted the non-raised part, so I had the lawn service put it back to grass

Lantana edging raised bed

this year. Right now it looks like a bed of chickweed, but there is grass growing, and I am assured that once it gets tall enough to mow, mowing and a little mild herbicide will take care of the weeds. (I normally avoid herbicides, but that particular area really needs something.) The raised beds are normally squash, beans and peas, but the only one I’ve been keeping up with on harvest the last couple of years is the squash. Two of the other three have been converted to mints and herbs, with flowers bordering them. The third is dirt now (it was chickweed) but will be getting transplants from the volunteer perennial seedlings. The white iris and delphinium seed like mad, as do some of the columbine and (most years) the lynchis. Might as well give them a home where they won’t be mowed.

We’re supposed to have sunshine again today, with temperatures in the 70’s. So far there’s not a cloud in the sky.

North Pole Weather 6/10/13

The sun rose at 3:09 this morning and will set 21 hours and 21 minutes later, at 12:32 tomorrow morning. The gain in daylight has slowed down a little; we’re now gaining about 5 minutes a day. The sun at noon is fairly high in the sky, over 48°. The weather is cloudy but generally pleasant – the spirea was photographed in natural light with cloud-covered sky at 10 pm.

Normally, I would have my garden planted by now. Between my east coast trip and a sprained wrist I finally got the zucchini in yesterday, and am going to try to get the herb plants in the ground today. No beans or peas this year, though I may try a late planting of lettuce. That, however, will depend very much on how I feel after the surgery scheduled for next Friday.

It’s starting to look like summer. The wild roses are budding, the spirea is in full bloom, and the dwarf columbine is showing color. Indoors, I have three orchids in bloom, all reblooming from last fall. Unfortunately the summer mosquitoes, the small ones that come in clouds, are as numerous as ever. I was wearing shorts when I went out to take the pictures, and the mosquitoes drove me in almost at once.

Fairbanks Weather, 6/27/11

The sun rose this morning at 3:03 in the morning and will set tomorrow at 12:44 am, for 21 hours 41 minutes with the sun (in theory) above the horizon. That’s assuming a flat horizon, which mine isn’t. Even at its lowest the sun is less than 2° below the horizon, so it stays light all night—white nights, they call them in Scandinavia. Star-gazing and aurora-watching are definitely out of season at least until August.

We’ve reached the thunderstorm season, though there are days like last Saturday when it’s clear (and hot—88° above) most of the day with clouds building in the evening. Other days it’s cloudy all day, but afternoon and evening it’s not unusual to have thunder and rain.

The garden loves it. Especially, I’m sorry to day, the chickweed. One of the zucchini (8-ball) is now blooming, with both male and female flowers, and the beans I panted late are germinating. The delphiniums are budding, though I have to look up to see them – the buds are above my eye level. For some reason the daylilies at the east end of the bed are well ahead of those at the west end, even though they’re only about 10 feet apart – the east end started blooming a week ago; the west end still just has buds. Maybe I didn’t get the fertilizer evenly distributed.

The days are getting shorter now – one of the reasons we are a little melancholy when solstice comes. We know it is the beginning of the slow slide into winter. Still, the garden is yielding lettuce and herbs, I can get vine-ripened tomatoes (locally greenhouse grown) at the Farmers’ Market and the days are usually comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt. At least as long as I keep moving faster than the mosquitoes, blackflies, whitesocks and no-see-ums!