There have been many complaints about this year’s Spring in Minnesota. Where’s the heat? Where has the Sun been? Why all this Snow in late April and May?
Well, it’s either too little CO2 if you accept modern mythology regarding Global Warming……now changed to “Climate Change” to cover all fronts political and climatological.
We have had a throw back to my childhood decade….when these ‘colds’ in April and May were quite the habit…..and a very unpleasant one when you delivered newspapers in St. Paul during oh, so many, miserable blizzards, both morning and after school when winter was more tundra-like than now.
Nevertheless for decades May 10 has been a significant date for landscapers, farmers, gardeners, and other outdoor types…..May 10 is the average frost-free date for our Twin City area.
Despite our cold outdoors this year, the coming week’s forecast is for evening temperatures to remain above 40 degrees Fahrenheit…….and so it is highly likely there will be no further Spring frost, much less a killing frost (temperatures below 29 degrees Fahrenheit for most ‘tender’ plants.
My Siberian Squill, which now likely reaches a population of a million or more on my grounds have been in bloom for nearly a month. They are now beginning to decline on the front, the East side of my grounds. Unfortunately, half of this month of scilla bloom has been under snow…..which kept its fresh magnificent rich blue bloom out of human site for half of its bloom on the eastern exposure. Scilla bloom elsewhere didn’t have such a warm, cozy, and frost free area as the sunny east side to display its beautiful blue to hasten its Spring display.
They are in peak color now.
October 10 is the last average frost free date in Autumn……usually a cold, clear night, often depressing to the landscape gardener and such folks who like the gopher outdoors.