thats funny, here in the part of denmark where i live the winter has been alot colder than it usually is, the temp has been 0 to -8 here for more than a month, and its been snowing at least 1 time every week. usually we barely get any snow and the temp get down to max. -5 and that´s only for like 1 or 2 days.

Indeed, we've had a wonderful wet, snowy winter so far!
Here's to hoping you get a good blast, Jeff!

Josh

Hey Jeff! It's nice to know our typical winters went somewhere! We usually have some cold, some snow, but mostly what I call "reasonable temps" (though the southerners would disagree!) I usually don't wear my winter coat until it gets under 20 - a heavy sweatshirt is plenty for me - so my coat doesn't get much use. Not this winter! We had well over 2' of snow on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, and only in the last couple weeks has the temp come up enough to melt some, but then we've gone into the no-sun funk for the last week. Today was the first day the sun was out, and only for a couple hours. YUCK! As much as I usually like winter, I'm SICK of it this year!

Have you had a lot of sunny days up there? When growing inside, I think it's the longer days that trigger the plants to grow more than warmth (because you're obviously maintaining the same constant temp you have in past years, right?) And if we have lots of nice sunny days in January, it seems to intensify the effect of the longer days.

BTW, I have an Aloe plicatilis that is blooming for me for the first time! Now, if I could just get it to branch (without cutting off its beautiful head!)

Denise in Omaha

Denise

Aloe plicatilis usually splits and branches off where flowers form so be on the lookout for 2 new growth points!

x

Hi -

I have aborted the growth on my C. Juttae a couple of times, i.e., when it leafs out early in my grow room I have pruned back after I put it outside in order to get a flush of new, more compact growth.

Tom

Jonas,

So you're getting our snow, eh? Well, that's OK.

Josh,

I don't need any more, thank you.

Yo Denise,

That's also where our winter went - Omahaward. I'm not missing it much but I have this sense of doom about a false spring.

We've had lots of sun, comparatively speaking, during the last month - usually it's not in much abundance. And you're right about the interior temps - they haven't varied much. Additionally, since we're in the lee of a hill, and the neighbors across the street cut some trees down last year, we're getting more sun earlier than we had before. Yes...it's all starting to make sense.

And that's great new about your A. plic - you'll enjoy the big flowers and, as X says, you'll get a new branch, too.

Tom,

Thanks, I might do it, but Tequila might need to make an appearance first - it seems antithetical to cut the little nubbins off of the branch, as well as a little cruel.

You might want to wait to prune until you are about to put the plants out, then prune them when you get them out there. If you prune them now, they will probably just pop again too early.

Once they start waking up, I don't know if they can be stopped again - my purpose for pruning when I do is that, since they woke early and under suboptimal conditions indoors, I want to remove that growth when they are in better conditions outdoors in order to get more budding and tighter growth.

Tom

I hope X is right about the two new heads coming where the flowers have been on the Aloe, all are in bud, or already have flowers. I have two mature plants of Aloe Plicatilis within a few feet of each other. They loved the rain and that kicked started them to form a branch of flowers.We are getting an unusually amt. of snow in Mammoth and the local mountains thank goodness. It's been a steady rain, but no downpour. No harm done here, all plants are welcoming it as well. Norma

heh, Parts of Flagstaff, AZ got over 100 inches of snow last week with more coming. I am so glad it doesnt snow where I live. I have seen a few flakes here but never any accumulation. I have lived in Arizona since August of 2001.

100" of snow?!!!! Ok, I'll stop complaining about the 2.5' we got over a period of a few weeks...

Yay! I'm glad to hear my A. plicatilis will likely branch now. It's such a neat Aloe, but I love the pics I see of the branched ones...

Denise in Omaha

Denise, its true, also in the white mountains or wherever the the hell Sunrise sky resort is they had 110 inches there. All I know is we got about 8 inches of rain and nasty floods. I was nervous because it was a bad flood, but it hit my street but at the other end so I was lucky. My house is the oldest on its block so I see that the people that moved it there werent total idiots. (and no its not a trailer)

I still will complain about the 4 feet of snow we got near Philly in a night. That was horrible to shovel cause it was fine snow and any time the wind blew(which it did often) it just pushed it back onto the driveway. I lost my car under a 20 foot pile of snow...lol

Hi liberalinaz,
I'm in Tucson, AZ. I wasn't crazy about the tornado watches last week! My husband had left town that day. Boy it was a long night!

I guess the weather has been so crazy everywhere. Yes, Denise, lots of snow!

We really need the rain though.. I guess more comming this week.

I have all my plants up under my awning, so far they are all doing well.

JoJo

all my adeniums seem to be growing. In fact, the ones right on the windowsill seemed to have kicked it up a notch lately.

The weather is weird everywhere. China had record snowfalls and had to evacuate thousands, we've had the worst weather in 40 years, fog, freezes...

But as to the plants, I've never tried to make them do anything. Mine all live outside year round, though they did come in this year!, and right now they are all dormant, something I'm not used to.
Tally HO!