On 11/14/2013 5:54 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Thursday, November 14, 2013 2:26:45 PM UTC-8, David E. Ross wrote:
On 11/14/2013 2:09 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, over 85F. Does take a swift dive at

night, thank goodness; you sleep with a blanket all year here.*



About to sow SEEDS of "winter" crops - radish, lettuce, beet, green

onion. Will they get confused if this madness continues? Hope by

the time they sprout, things will have reverted to "normal", whatever

the hell THAT is in this globally warmed world...



* Unlike Hong Kong, where I came out of the airport at 10:30 pm few

years ago and got slapped in the face by a hot, wet blanket. Up to

then, I had never been in a place where it didn't cool off at night.

Well, I lie -- India, Vietnam, but you have to stay in airconditioned

accommodations.



Back to Alaska and another 10-day camping/mushing trip. THE

greatest!



But I ramble...



HB



At noon yesterday, it was 88F with 7% relative humidity.



Near the ocean where you live, the heat will speed sprouting and help to

get the plants established before what we call "winter" arrives. Where

I live, this is very important because we often get night frosts in the

winter (only occasional and very light); so winter flowers need to be

established before the frosts. Otherwise, while the plants will be

okay, they won't bloom until spring.

How about your veggies? Can you protect them from Valley frost by
spreading black plastic over them at night?

HB

The only vegetables that I grow are artichokes and asparagus, both of
which are sufficiently hardy. I also grow perennial herbs: thyme,
peppermint, sage, tarragon, oregano, and bay. In April, after all
threat of frost is gone, I also plant dill and basil; the dill is
history by September before any frost. The basil might linger until the
first frost, but I already harvested and dried more than enough to last
through the winter.

Other edibles in my garden are fruits. I have dwarf citrus: Eureka
lemon, Robertson navel orange, Mineola tangelo, and kumquat. I have a
pineapple guava, a MacBeth loquat, and a Santa Barbara peach. So far,
these have been sufficiently hardy to survive the frosts, although my
orange did have some damage in January 2007. I would not try limes;
they are the least hardy of the citrus. I sometimes worry about the
winter not being cold enough for the peach. The loquat blooms in
December and January; it seems to ignore the frost.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary