This was pretty cold. :)

We had a lot of snow this past winter so i don't think i had any losses due to the extreme temperatures. In fact a zone 5 hellebore overwintered, as well as a couple of zone 4 plants.

Gardenguy, where did you play hockey?

Are you guys lurkers here? I love it when we have lurkers! LOL

I'm not in Canada but close. Northern Minnesota, a tad south of the infamous 'Ice Box of the Nation' which usually has winter lows of 6-10F warmer than the surounding area.
Coldest I can remember in recent history is -51F ..... happened about 5 years ago. Last winter we had a couple of nights that hit -48F. Ususally about -45F is reached in most winters.

However, one or two nights of -45 or -50 do not a zone make. If it did, I would be in Zone 1 on the USDA map. Another factor is the length of time the thermometer hits and stays at those lows. Usually it is only a few hours....right about the time you need to fire up the vehicle to drive to work! LOL.
USDA zones are based in a large part on natural occuring woody vegetation. This vegetation does not fall over in heap when a few nights of unusual lows occur. Did your area in Main lose its Zone 4 and 5 native trees and shrubs when the unusual low occurred? Probably not....it takes sustained, frequent and customary lows of that kind to change native woody vegetation.
Snow cover is an important factor in determining the survival of herbacous perennials. The more the better the plants are insulated. However, IMHO, even the snow cover issue is over-rated. More important is the freeze thaw cycle during the winter months. The winter we had -50F was a very cold winter with just so-so snow cover. The ground froze to at least a depth of 7.5 feet. (The depth of our waterline!) It was cold and stayed cold and the ground stayed frozen till spring break-up. I did not lose garden perennials that year. What is more likely to kill perennials is those cold periods followed by warm and then cold, etc. (Freeze-Thaw cycles) This is much more of a problem in the warmer zones.

I can't imagine limiting myself to Zone 3 perennials. A couple of reasons....very few perennials are rated zone 3. I'd even have to kick out my Phlox paniculata according to Jung's! Second reason....how do those zone raters know if a plant can survive in Zone 3 or colder? There is no 'official' testing done in the cold zones. Like Marcia, I grow any and all plants that do well here....paying no attention to zone-guesses that have absolutely no basis in experience or testing.
Jan

Yes, I'm a lurker.

Of course minus 45 one night doesn't change my zone. :-) I have noticed, over the years I've gardened in this area (in several different locations), that we have some truly interesting micro-climate variations. In one place I lived, I had one of those famous "low spots" where hot air parks itself in the summer and cold air does the same in the winter. That was where I regularly lost zone 5 perennials, and sometimes lost zone 4 ones.

At another house (I've managed to move a lot within a relatively small geographic area during the past 25 years, LOL!) I could grow anything above zone 6, and had serious winter-kill of my shrubs and perennials only in the worst winters. Next house? Better stick to zone 4, except right around the foundation.

This place is a cross between the last two. I don't limit myself to zone 3 plants, but I prefer to buy them when I've got a choice between cultivars. When we get a winter where it doesn't go above zero F (at all) for a week - when the nights go 30 below and stay there until after sunrise - I can count on losing stuff like my tall summer phlox. Those winters aren't the rule here, thank heaven, but they do occur. (And they probably sound mild to some folks. Which is why I've been lurking - I usually post at Maine Gardening, or Miniature Roses, or African Violets).

Yup, that thermometer reading in the photo is COLD!!!!!!!!

I would have to concur with Jan (Dentaybow) on that.
The lowest temperatures I have experienced here have been about minus 45C.
My min max thermometer is digital and doesnÂt work at the coolest temperatures.

What killed Pulminaria, which is considered bulletproof here, was an early cold snap before there was any snow, to minus 20C sustained for two weeks.
Ian

Last winter we hit -54F for a few nights, during the day it was rising to about -45F. Of course then you add in the wind chill on top of that. With the winds we have here you can drop the temperature another 20 or 30 degrees sometimes. We had about three straight weeks during January last winter where it was really cold ie. didn't go above -24F. Amazingly I have a hydrangra that made it planted next to my chimney. It died down to the ground but it looks nice and healthy right now.

Syreeta

Marciaz3, I played Junior Hockey in the Niagra Falls area. I wanted to make a career out of it, but got hurt. :(

Now I just play for the UHL. You may have heard of it? It's called the Umeployed Hockey League, LOL. Not that I'm unemployed, but what we mean to say is unemployed by not getting paid to play hockey. It's just pickup with a bunch of other guys. Good thing about the NHL strike last year is we got to play with some NHL guys that were just looking for some ice time. I've lived in the Hamilton area just south of Toronto.

Also, yes, I'm just a lurker on this particular forum, but rather very active in the banana forum. Growing bananas and other tropicals is my main passion now hobbywise. I do like browsing the far north forums, just to see how you folks are growing things up there. When it comes to the far north, I've read some stuff about Barrow Alaska. Makes me wander if any memeber in here lives up there? It's so cold, that they don't even have any trees! I reckon thats zone 0?

The temperature on that thermometer is the reason i don't complain about heat in the summer! LOL

I'm not as much of a zone-pusher as others are, but the more i see people growing zone 5 plants in zone 3, the bolder i'm becoming!

mainsfwriter - Very interesting about your temps and loss of tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata). I would like to know more....so hope you don't mind a few questions.
Did you have snow cover during the periods you described? (i.e. below freezing temps during the day, -30F at night).
What kind of weather followed these unusual cold spells? Warm spells or continued cold until spring thaw?
Does your ground stay frozen all winter.....or does it freeze and thaw several times during the winter months?
Were the phlox you lost first year plantings (first winter) or well established clumps?

Ian - I lost Pulmonarias too one year. A winter with quite a few ups and downs temperature-wise and minimal snow fall. To make matters worse, they were planted under the canopy of a spruce so had absolutely zero in the way of snow cover. I even lost daffodils one year. Had a freak warm spell in early February, the snow melted, ground unthawed and they came up. This was quickly followed by -35F temps. That again was followed by a major warm up which caused the daffys to emerge a second time in mid-March...and again a big cold spell. By Spring, the Daffys gave up and never re-surfaced again.

Marcia- I don't care how cold the winter was....I still complain about these 30+C/90+F temps we are having. Makes blueberry picking mighty uncomfortable! LOL
Jan

I don't know why Chicago gets picked on for it's winters. I am very into weather, and monitor it heavily. I didn't even see negatives this winter and I'm out in the suburbs, (O'hare official low -2F) the city is even warmer yet. Our lowest high was about 18F one day, our longest streatch below freezing was 5 days. We didn't even have snow on the ground for more than a month. I grow a few palms and tropicals and use protection for a month or so in winter. Even desert plants such as yuccas, cacti, and agaves survive over winter without protection. Chicago has such a reputation for our harsh winters, yet its nothing compared to yall up there, or even areas much closer like Wisconsin and Minnesota.
I can understand being intrigued with such brutal winters, I have a friend who moved here from Regina/Edmonton/Calgary and it's so interesing to hear about the winters there. I'm going to be taking some trips to Minnesota and northern Wisconsin this fall/winter for my brothers hockey, and It should be very interesing to hear the accent, and see the real winter.

Kyle

Gardenguy, here they call that "Beer League Hockey". :) One of my sons and my son-in-law play - my son doesn't drink but my son-in-law makes up for it! Too bad you couldn't continue your career in hockey - you could afford to have a home in the tropics for your bananas!

I agree with Jan that it's more the fall and spring weather that kill the perennials. I, too, have lost things when an extensive cold spell came after the snow melted in spring. Now i mulch heavily with leaves and in the spring i will often rake them off during the day and back on at night - well, i have too many gardens now to do that consistenly, but i do with the gardens that have crocuses and snowdrops in them because otherwise i'd miss those precious blooms!

Kyle, i'm sure your cold is a damp cold, and you do have a lot of wind down there, don't you? That's why people talk about Chicago being cold.

Jan, do you have blueberries there? We're having trouble finding them. It seems like it should be a good year for them, but it sure isn't! Any time we've gone picking, we've only gotten one bucket between the two of us. Dh has taken his 4-wheeler out and searched places for berries, but hasn't had much luck.

I don't mind questions at all - interest in this sort of thing is one reason I lurk in this forum. :-) Answers:

Did you have snow cover during the periods you described? (i.e. below freezing temps during the day, -30F at night).

--No snow, which is why people whose wells and well pipes are at "minimum depth" for this climate were experiencing freeze-ups. The plumbers were going nuts. When we have snow - deep snow especially - in such weather, I don't lose plants unless they were marginal anyway.

What kind of weather followed these unusual cold spells? Warm spells or continued cold until spring thaw?

--No immediate warm spell. It got up into the teens, and we rejoiced.

Does your ground stay frozen all winter.....or does it freeze and thaw several times during the winter months?

--When we get a "thaw" in winter, the ground doesn't normally start to thaw because the warmth doesn't last that long. It's just a few hours of being over the freezing point at midday. However, in recent years we've had a few spells of really warming up - enough so that the ground softens as if it were April, not January - accompanied by rain. When deep cold follows one of those spells, it's bad news indeed.

Were the phlox you lost first year plantings (first winter) or well established clumps?

--I lost first year plantings. My older sister lost established clumps in her garden.

Kyle - You made my day when you said "it should be very interesting to hear the accent". What accent? We don't have an accent....it is the rest of the country that talks funny! May I suggest you get some of the original 'Talk Minnesota' and Yooper tapes so you have a fighting chance of speaking correctly. A good Yooper dictionary would also be helpful. Perhaps if you get the hang of the language as spoken correctly, an old timer will invite you in for BISS-kit and coffee. If they do....go for it. You will taste some of the best sweet rolls you have ever eaten. And for goodness sakes....don't make the mistake of saying something like "These biscuits are delicious.". There is no plural for BISS-kit. It is both the singular and plural. If you are served a dish with Coolwhip and fruit and/or jello....don't call it a dessert. Folks will look at you like you just fell off the back of a truck! It is a salad.

Have a nice trip and visit to Northern MN and Wisconsin and do enjoy hearing English spoken and used correctly for the first time! LOL

Jan

I've been a "lurker" on this forum for a year or two now, and really find it fascinating. I love to see the pics that are posted of the perennial gardens in the North... I've said this before but the colors are so much more vibrant, in my opinion...especially with regards to the Delphiniums, Lilies, Lupines. I do not know if it is the cooler nights that bring out the intense color or what... but I can't even get Delph's and Lupines to perennialize more than 2 or 3 years. I really admire those who garden in these conditions... Hardy plants and hardier people...
My parents have a friend who lives outside Fairbanks, AK... She has attested to temps in the -50F to -60F range. I can't imagine how anything could perennialize under those conditions. When I hear her talk about the cold, I often feel guilty for complaining about 0F in Cleveland....lol...

I am sitting in air conditioning reading this posting and itÂs making me shiver. Even though we are legendary in Canada for our winters, most winters the coldest it hits is -36C/ -33F. An extreme winter might hit -41C/-42F. I think our winters are harsh, however, with not many warm spells sending the temperatures above freezing.

I would just like to add for woody plants, I think autumn temperatures do play a part in helping the plants prepare for winter as well. One year, I think it was October 2001, we had an unusually cold month. By mid month it was near 5C/41F for daytime highs when normal is more like 10 to 15C. It was cloudy and cold. I do recall the following spring 2002 lots of my shrubs had winter damage, particularly ones in the prunus (cherry) family which were winter killed to near the ground.

My theory is that it became too cold too quick and stayed that way, and the shrubs could not properly finish ripening their wood and prepare for winter. It was like they were suspended in refrigerator-like temperatures when they should have been having sunny warm days and cool frosty nights. If I recall that year the fall leaf colors werenÂt much to speak of either.

Anyways, interesting reading. I guess what an individual person considers cold is relative to where you live. On the coldest winter day when it's -35C here, I like to look at the weather way up north and feel better that at least it's not -45C. Thank goodness for warm sunny summers though, otherwise I don't think I'd live here.

Glen

Marciaz,
Chicago is not windy. The term 'Windy City' refers to our hot head politicians from years ago. Also, our cold really isn't that damp. It's very very dry here in winter, and we rarely see precipitation, in my mind.

Dentaybow,
Wooo I could never keep up with that correct way of english! There are probly alot more terms that I have no clue about, but I'll find out the hard way, haha! It sure is funny how we all believe that we talk the right way!
Thanks for those terms, I will put them into use, when I travel up to MinnesooOhtah, or Minnesot'n.. How is that even said???

Kyle

Then there was the fall that all the leaves froze on the trees before they fell off. I had very little to rake up for mulch that year!

Kyle, and here i thought i was so knowledgable after all those years of listening to WLS! LOL

It's great to hear from all the lurkers - hmmm, an idea occurs! Off to start a new thread!

OOOFF-ta. (slight pause between first and second syllable)
Minn-ah-SO-tah (slight pause after the SO..heavy on the tah)
Hang in there...you'll get it right!

Glen - I didn't realize Wpg was so warm. Maybe when I retire I will become a snowbird and winter up there. LOL
Good point about the Fall temps and winter survival.
Jan

I used to get to go to Chicago for a big conference and trade show in that huge convention centre there, end of November. I really liked the city and always wanted to return in the summer but never have.

Okay, you guys have to take the "Are you a Yankee or a Rebel language test". I think I scored around 41%, most of my answers were common to NorthEast and Great Lakes USA. Give it a try.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yankee or Rebel

Pardon my ignorance, eh . . . but what is an OOOFF-ta? I have sat here for the last 15 minutes and said it over and over again in a hundred differnt ways (if that's possible, with 7 letters) and I can't figure it out. Please, enlighten me. It's going to drive me crazy all day. LOL

BTW, here's a great example of a "conversation" that we frequently have in the Far North forum. Aren't they fun! I love this.

Shauna

I am guessing our equivalent of "OOOFF-ta" is "Off To." We should all be off to Minnesota to visit Jan.

There's a plan!

Duh . . . How'd I miss that?

Shauna

What is an OOOFF-tah? That is rich...just wonderfully rich!

You are not alone in wondering about that word. Linguists have researched this many times and come to the conclusion its origin and definition are obscure.

It is not a 'thing'. It is more of a response to something. Some Examples:
If you are walking through the barnyard and step in a fresh one...you would look at your shoe and say "OOOFF-tah"
If you are carrying a tray of your finest china beer mugs, drop the tray, breaking them all....you would say "OOOFF-tah"
When you see a thistle towering over your coneflowers, you would say OOOFF-tah"

O.K. I am going to be serious now. Bet ya think I can't do that?
I used the phoenetic spelling. Sometime it is spelled as 'uffdah'....although it hardly is ever spelled....just spoken. It is an all-purpose exclamation, probably of Scandinavian-American origin. OOOF-tah is something like 'Wow!' with overtones of 'Oops!' or dismay. In other words, it has slightly negative implication but not strongly so. It is often used instead of less acceptable exclamatory outburts.

I should issue a caution. 'OOOF-tah' cannot and should not be used in some situations. For example...if your neighbor tells you his dog, Rover, was hit by a car.... 'OOOF-tah' is not an appropriate response. Just get a look of shock mixed with sympathy on your face and say...."ohferawful".

Jan

Germans say OOP-a-law the same way (accent on the 'oop' and drawing out the 'law'). I always figured that's where our 'oops' came from. I was thinking that OOF-ta was a sound used in ethnic (specifically Greek) dance.

I also assumed Chicago was called the Windy City because of the wind. Amazing the things you learn here, LOL.

And I agree about that the freeze/thaw cycle is when plants are lost. I'm sure that's how I lost Euphorbia myrcinites. But seeing Lori's success with it, I'm tryinng again, in an area where the snow will not melt off as quickly.

I think areas that have wet falls and winters (rain, as opposed to snow) are more troublesome. I'm having a fair amount of success with ornamental grasses that should not, according to zone ratings, grow here. It's my thought that our dry fall helps this success and that they do not go into winter wet.

Another good point concerning the zones that get alternate freezes and rains. When I first got hooked on Hostas, I just could not believe the folks in the warm zones experienced winter-kill of Hostas. A Hosta? That certainly was worth one OOOF-tah and a couple of OOP-a-laws...maybe even an OOY-vay. (not the correct spelling). The reason apparently is they get soggy, freeze, thaw, heave... repeat that cycle a couple to times and the plants don't have a chance. Sometime I feel lucky to be gardening in the cold zones where winters come and stay till break-up.

I am trying Euphorbia myrsinites this year again too. Different location to see if I can't get it to winter.

Kyle - if you are still following this thread....what kind of Yuccas do you grow? Quite a few northern gardeners on this forum grow Y.filamentosa and/or Y.glauca. These Yuccas are not over-achievers in the cold zones but they do survive winters. Mine is downright puny but it multiples fairly rapidly. Wish it would put its energy into growing and not multiplying.
Jan

How cruel to make us think of winter in August! haha

Glen's realistic about Manitoba (straight north of Minnesota/North Dakota) temps in his post. It has been colder than that for sure, but what he says is fairly regular. What really makes it suck is when we get stuck below -30 for days or weeks on end, and also the fact that some cold spells have almost no daytime heating. There's cold for 1/2 hour one night, and then there's stuck at -32 for a week solid. It chafes I'm telling ya.

Jan too funny about the Minnesota talk. I drove down into MN last September for the long weekend and I was struck by how quickly the trees got taller and taller as I went south. It was almost like there were signs saying "Welcome to Zone 3!" "Welcome to Zone 4!". The country around the Detroit Lakes area I especially thought was beautiful.

Dentaybow,
Yucca Filimentosa and Glauca grow like weeds here, theyre everywhere. I can't keep them from popping up all over my garden beds. I grow those two along with Rostrata, Thompsoniana, and Elata as of right now. I just cover them with a grill cover and they stay warm and dry all winter.

BTW, What town are you in? I'll be visiting Spooner, WI this fall, and winter a couple times. Is that anywhere near you, or do you know anything about it? Where is Iron Mountain also, and is it an actual Mountain?, I've been hearing about that...

Thanks,
Kyle

Don't forget about the windchill factor too. (The windchill equivalent temperature is simply a way or relating how wind appears to make a given temperature cool things as though it were really much colder.)

Just this last winter we had a night that was -38C, but it felt like it was -60C with the windchill. Thankfully the plants were cozy protected with a blanket of snow.....there have been some winters that we haven't had that much snow, one year we didn't get snow till around Feburary, lost alot of plants that spring.... that's why I protect my border-line perennials with straw just in case.

About the off-topics in this thread, why aren't some of you signing the petition ;)

Sharon

This OOOF-tah thing has me buffaloed, reminds me of an Australian Toyota truck ad which I won't go into, but I would if we had a conversations area because it is really funny.

I am trying Euphorbia myrsinites this year as well, started them from seed and they are doing very well, I have quite a few of them planted and will mulch with straw. My Yucca glauca all came through last winter but they are just babies started from seed last year.

It is my understanding windchill does not affect plants in terms of making them experience colder than the ambient temperature. Wind itself affects plants in terms of desiccation. So, in the winter it would be plants like woodies/evergreens that experience increased desiccation due to the wind but not colder than ambient temps. Windchill affects only heat producing bodies (including humans, animals, heated houses and cars with warm engines)....making them cool to ambient temperatures faster but never below the ambient temperature.

Kyle- thanks for the info on the Yuccas...will have to google them. I live about 300 miles from Spooner and much farther from Iron Mountain. Iron Mountain is on the border of Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Close to Yooper country? Is it really a mountain? Compared to the Grand Tetons, definitely not. In term of a mountain in the mid-west....yes, it is considerably higher than other ground.
I live about 25 miles from International Falls, MN...a stone's throw (if you have a good arm) from the Canadaian Border.
Jan

Yes, we need the conversation forum.
ooof-ta, uffda, however it's spelled.... used here too. But then again, I'm of the Swedish persuasion and there are so many Scandinavians around here. Sometimes here, if you've had a real ooofta experience, you might say it and end it with a little ( with the body ) shiver, adds a little punch.

I have to get back into this thread now and read more about the cold temps, with winter ahead of us, I'm always interested in hearing about what survives for us.

Faith

Come on, someone had to post colder temperatures then I did. I am not even that far north and I can't have the coldest temperatures out there. Seems to me that when we had that cold spell last winter the Peace Region was colder. Never mind, I just remember my DH went up to Dawson Creek for a hockey tournament and it was only -38C at night. The whole team got out of the trucks and thought how warm it was up there. We weren't even hitting that temperature during the day. :(

Syreeta

I'm loving this thread! I should be doing laundry and unpacking suitcases but instead I'm here with my 2nd cuppa-java and getting "nothing" done! Too funny.

I'm a relatively new transplant to the Zone 3 gardening having moved from the lower mainland of BC a few years ago. This thread is hugely enlightening as I have been trying to restrict myself to "Zone 3 plants". I've been totally blown away that things return after our -31C to -41C winters. There were times when I was convinced that I'd have to replant everything and then when things greened up in the spring I was saying "Wowwww" for like a month straight!!!! LOL Gotta love it!

Time to peel myself away from the 'puter and get OOOFF-tah do some laundry me-thinks! (not that I want to by any means!)

Laundry? Oh yeah laundry, me too, hee hee. Just wanted to second Jan about the windchill/dessication/ambient temp thing. SOOOOOO many people around here don't understand that windchill doesn't affect a car sitting out in the driveway overnight. I am disgusted that a lot of local forecasts (like radio esp.) are even skipping the ambient temperature and giving only the windchill conversion. They're just making people stupider.

My only concession here is that windchill does affect a car with a block heater running. But that goes along with the heat producing body situation.

Syreeta - I'll have to ask DH about low, low temps, he used to do pipeline radiography in the early 80's and worked places no one would want to venture anytime after October. LOL of course I doubt he was going any gardening. But I do have cousins living in the far, far northwest corner of Alberta, and I think they do some gardening. I wish I could get them to join GW and talk about their gardening in their chilly little area.
I don't doubt there will be someone gardening with colder temps than yours!
Faith

Does it count that I used to live in Fairbanks and experienced -60F/-51C? The first winter I was there it hit that temp and stayed that way for weeks. Day time temps would soar to -50F/-46C. Yes, I had to do the usual and customary thing when the temps hit -50F. Take a cup of hot water outside...toss the water in the air and watch it hit the ground as ice.
The only vehicle accident we ever had there occurred in our own yard during one of those cold periods. Inversions in the basin caused the ice fog to be so bad you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We both were going to work. Dark, of course. He in the truck. Me in the car. He assumed I had left the yard because he couldn't see the car headlights with the ice fog compounded with the ice crystals created by the truck's exhaust. But I hadn't because the car's transmission was frozen and the car wouldn't move. He backed up, with the engine revved up so he could keep moving, and smashed right into the car. That jolted the car and loosened the transmission!

Gardening in the summer was great...albeit perennials at that time were mostly limited to native plants. My understanding is Fairbanks has warmed considerably and does not experience those extremely cold temps much anymore. Some of the traditional garden perennials can even be grown there now?
Jan

Jan, it sounds like you lived in Fairbanks when I did. It was -56 the day I got married, and then dropped to -57 for a few days. No one from out of town came to the wedding, because even the highway was closed. And my husband picked up and took home most of the wedding guests, because our car was one of the few running. Going to college for 4 years there was fine, but after a year of working (living on campus and commuting all the way out to Eielson) and having to drive in that ice fog, I said I didn't care where we moved to, but I wasn't making that drive for another winter. My sister lives up there now, and everything I give her survives--she's not into gardening, but likes to plant a few things. Living on campus, the only gardening I did was vegetables in a community plot, but I know there were lots of peonies at the older houses downtown, and they always survived.

My mtn garden has an interesting climate while it does not get that cold in winter, the rest of the year the climate is more like a zone 3 or 4.

Let me explain, the lowest I had over the last 5 to 6 years has been -8 and my ave low over this time is -6 so I am in zone 6 when you look at winter lows.. but we can have frost untill early June and our first frost comes at the end of Sept more like a zone 3 or 4 garden. The all time low for our area is about -25 to -30

While during the winter daytime temps are upper 30 to mid 40's and the nightime temps drop to 10F to 20F....not that cold, but summers are cool daytime highs 75F to 85F and nighttime temps from 45F to 55F... Summer is our rainny season, so while the temp could rise to the low 80's by mid afternoon a thunderstorm could cool thing down into the 60's and sometimes even into the 50's during late afternoon. so our growing degree day are low, more like zone 3 or 4...

So gardening can get quite intresting, people had glads that overwinter, there are a few leyland cypress around town, not many but a few...on the other hand fruits and vegs that normally do fine in zone 6 climate do not develop well up here even through the tree has no problem making it through the winter... If the late spring frost does not get the fruit the growing season is too short and cool for the fruit to fully develop before it get cold in the fall.... my growing season aves about 116 days, the shortest being only 90 days and the longest being about 140....

I grow fruit trees that do well in zone 3 or 4 and get better fruiting then people who try to grow zone 6 fruit trees...people who try to grow delicious apples rarely get fruit, maybe once every 5 to 6 years, I grow sweet sixteen apples and get fruit in most years..

and if you drive 40 miles south and 2000 ft lower delicious apples do great... My garden is at 7,000 ft but there are placse that are 8000 and 9000 ft which are even colder with shorter seasons....

So I have a zone 6 that acts like a zone 3 or 4.....

All Right! I don't have the coldest temperatures! LOL I was starting to get worried, it is one thing to have cold winters but hot summers help offset the cold. So far here the summer has been blah! :( Lots of rain, grey days and the leaves are already turning yellow. :Syreeta

The last few winters has lulled me into thinking Im not in zone 1brrrrr (use to think it was zone 2brrr)..lol..the winter of 1984/1985 was the coldest I remember..it went to -59(f) my horse was getting up in age and wouldnt move around to stay warm..so she got 2 blankets on and the canvas my father in law dried his onions on..the rest of the winter I would lean into her and smell onions...lol..savona

The coldest it's been at my house (rental) was -54 F, on New Years Eve 1999/2000. I've only been at my new house since Jan 1st of this year, but I think that the lowest it got was -45F or so. The record low for Fairbanks was -65 F (-54C), but I'm not sure of the year. My boss (lifelong Alaskan) claims that winters are getting warmer, but he also tells me that he walked uphill both ways through the snow to get to school. Evidence may suggest that the Arctic is warming, but we still routinely get a couple straight weeks below -40F (which is also -40C). Typically it freezes hard enough to kill gardens in early September (sometimes late August), and typically after about early/mid October, snow is on the ground to stay until late April. Official planting day is Jun 1st, but this year was so warm this spring that many people were putting in gardens in early May with no detrimental effects, but last year we got an inch of snow on May 12st.

Emily in smoky Fairbanks

Dentaybow,
You would throw up HOT water and do that??? Sheesh. I have tried using water which had temps just shy of freezing and threw that in the air during -9F, and splat, it fell right back down. =/ A friend of mine in Fairbanks told me that when it is that cold, the water does not come back down, it just skips freezing and evaporates right into the air. I can't Image such a thick inversion fog, what an interesting phenomenon.

Mytime, How does one get flowers into the wedding service in those temps without them just freezing while just walking them through the door??? lol.

SeaOtter,
I am in Madison, WI right now, and its currently 75F and cloudy. It feels just like a very dark wet cold fall day, to me, nothing like the mid 90s in Chicago last week with blazing sun. I guess if the trees are turning there, wouldn't that make it fall?

Kyle

Emily - How nice to hear from someone a little bit north of Nome! I have Fairbanks on my weather page and noticed the conditions were smokey. A couple of our local DNR foresters were pulled to the fires in AK.

Kyle - throwing water in the air at -9F will only get you wet! I like your friend's story. Do you suppose water can actually evaporate at -50F?

I just came here from another forum. How come folks south of Iowa think everything north of the Canadian Border is tundra?
Jan

If this posts, it's about time...I've been trying off and on for an hour.
I'm not sure how my husband got the flowers to the wedding without them freezing, since the car certainly never got warm that day. Fortunately, we were poor college students and just had carnations--they are certainly hardier than many flowers usually used for weddings. One Valentine's day before we were married, he walked to the florist's and bought me a rose, and then walked back with it. It was a long time before I had the heart to tell him that it was frozen solid and turned black and fell apart the minute it thawed out. He hasn't bought me many roses since!

I was just in Fairbanks for the weekend--the flowers were beautiful, but the smoke was awful. It was good to get home. Right now I'm in the house taking a break from the heat outside. It's relatively cool in the house at 81 degrees. It's 80 in the shade, and 97 in the sun. I didn't take the thermometer out til just now...who knows how hot it was earlier. Unforturnately, I'm redoing the strawberry bed, and it is in the sun all day. Right now it is 100.8 on the front deck. And I did not set the thermometer in direct sun. Not good weather for transplanting strawberries!

Jan, some folks in the U.S. South think that Maine is in the same latitude as Alaska. My mom was asked while traveling there if she didn't miss seeing the sun during the winter. :-)

Best,

Nina

Nina, that is a good one! A really good one.
I've been told I couldn't grow something or other because I was to close to the glaciers. But...no daylight in Maine in the winter beats that by a long shot.
Jan

Hi all
Interesting thread. Nothing brings out more discussion than the subject of the weather.

Having lived in Alberta and mainly northwestern Alberta most of my life makes me think of some of the coldest weather that I have experienced. One of the coldest winters I can remember is the winter of 1968-1969. It was about plus 7 or 8 degrees C on December 30 or 31 and raining. By midnight the temperature had dropped to -10C and by morning the temperature was about -30C. By mid week it was down to -40C at night and would warm to -30 during the day. It stayed like this for the next 6 weeks.

The coldest day that I remember was in 1964 when it was about -35C with a 30 mph wind. I remember helping dad feed cows and picked a woodpecker off the slab fence. He was digging grubs out of the bark on the slabs and was so cold and hungry that he didn't fly away.

I think the temperature has definitely warmed since those days and we are getting far less snow. I hav noticed that the amount and severity of the winter storms is less than it used to be. Being a snow plow operator it seems that we don't even get as many storms during the winter and we are getting more freezing rain than we used to. Some winters we don't even get any snow.

I find that plants that go into the winter with a early snow on them (the more the better) seem to winter better than those that just freeze in before the snow comes. The snow tends to insulate the plants and sometimes the ground freezes very little if there is lots of snow. I think that when there is no snow and if there is lots of moisture in the ground the action of the frost lifts the crown of the plant and breaks it. Also freeze thaw cycles in the spring can be deadly to plants, as a warm spell will start them growing and then a cold snap hits them and either sets them back or kills them. I lost a Morden rose this way this spring. It started to grow and then in early May the temp dropped to -6C which killed it. All my other ones were fine and the only thing that I could find wrong with this one was that it was in a area that gets more wind and some of the soil around the base had blown away and the roots were exposed.

Anyway this is my addition to the cold temperature thread.

Cheers Al

Al - I think I've heard stories about that winter! I'm in the Peace country and I'd bet money my dad's told me about that winter.

Back in the early 60s Dad was running Cat building oil leases way far north near the Alberta/BC/NWT border and it was getting down to the -60s at night. Actually, he says he doesn't know how cold it really was, the mercury wouldn't come out of the bulb. They were refueling the Cats a couple of times a day, if the motors were turned off they would freeze solid and not restart until spring. He came back here and was clearing land in the Sunset house are (between High Prairie and Valleyview) and it was only -40 at night and -30 during the day. To him it was a heat wave.

I've seen -55 and that's cold enough for me. We get some -40 weather but not like we used to. The rural school busses don't run when it's -40 and below and I remember missing more than one day of school due to weather.

I live a 10 minute (in the winter, 5 in the summer) walk from my office and when it gets below -35 my boss will come pick me up. It's too cold to walk and after his 30 minute drive in to town his truck is warm. It stays running all day.

I lost one rose this winter but I think that was partially my fault. I grow things rated down to zone 4 but I make sure I put them in a sheltered spot.

Chitown,

I was in Chicago two years ago in February. I about froze my socks off! The wind was definately howling and I don't really know what the temp was but I was cold!

I was so glad to get back to Anchorage. My DH was raised in Chicago and he feels like our winters here are more comfortable due to the lack of wind.

I wouldn't want Fairbank's winter temps, but here in Anchorage I've found when I lose plants it because of lack of snow cover. I lost quite a few two winter ago when we had late snow and a very early melt, but then freezing temps. I have many plants rated for zone 6.

Seems like the coldest I have experience is just a few nights of -15 F. That's definately cold, but the winter before I moved here, we had three solid weeks of -40 F wind chill in Topeka. Thought I would lose my mind. Especially since they had to close school with no buses running.

Gloria

quiltgolo;
Our winters, or any seasons of the year for that matter, are no windier than any other place. It might have been windy, but we do not have windy winters. As I already said above, the term 'Windy City' refers to our hot head politicians from years ago, if thats where your getting it from.

Were you here in Feb 2003? If so, that was a pretty cold winter.

Chitown