Well if you saw Josh Classen explain the difference in temperature that we have now compared to 30 years ago or 50 years ago, its pretty astonishing. As annoying as it is to have a terribly cold march 10 days, the averages for each winter month has been climbing very quickly. January has averaged 14 days above zero in the last 5 years, it was 10 days above zero in the last 30 years and 8 days above zero in the last 50 years. Continually climbing. Almost every month's winter average high has jumped 3 degrees in 50 years.

I think the annoying thing for us, is when we have below average months like October was and it makes it seem as if we aren't warming. But look at last winter and the average high from dec 21 to march 21 was zero degrees. That's much warmer than normal and that seems to be more of the pattern than the exception.

I can count with two hands how many times I've shoveled snow this winter with the exception of the light dustings with a broom. 3 of those times were this week. Times are a changing. I remember when we had 8 foot high snowbanks every winter.

When I was kid growing up in the 70's, we were pretty much guaranteed to receive two or three nights of -40 F or lower. Now, in the last ten years, only three times have I recorded such lows at my location. The length of growing season in the Edmonton region has increased by about three weeks and zone rating bumped up to zone 4 for most of the surrounding area. Though, Alberta often will receive very abrupt early arctic outbreaks before woody plants have fully hardened off (such as occurring his past Oct and in 2010) and these conditions often proving to be particularly damaging. But, all in all, there is an increasing number of plants that can be successfully be grown on the prairies.

I am seeing the same warm up, for the last 3 winters although we have hit -40 or less a couple of times it is not near the number of days we used to nor are the cold snaps of the same duration.

I like the colder March, it keeps my fruit trees dormant a little longer. Warming up earlier in the spring is not something I welcome.

Yes, will be interesting to see how the borderline hardy trees and shrubs fare. As for the roses, many that often retain a good deal of live wood are now instead dead to the ground. No, the winter wasn't particularly harsh, though that early October icy blast hadn't given things much of a chance to harden off ... THEN, it had turned very warm for two weeks at the beginning of November and the dormant buds on my 'Balsors Hardy Black' blackberries had begun to noticeably expand. On one of those afternoons, we had recorded a very balmy 23 C at my location.

I blame snow cover...was lacking for most of the winter...now freeze & thaw almost every day.

I don't think snow cover matters for most trees. So many American locations that have very low snow cover every year and can still grow zone 5 trees while dropping to -30 with no or little snow cover. Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois etc...difference being, they typically get winter starting in November and almost never in Oct. And they typically never get really cold till Dec or even Jan.

Chicago is a weird place for weather. Some years they are similar to us for harshness dropping below -20 many days of winter and yet lots of years they won't hit -20 once and be more similar to new York city which is zone 7b.

Unlike many regions, my yard did receive a pretty decent and consistent snow cover and there's still about 6 inches or more in most of the backyard. I'm all closed in by trees and protected from the wind and what snow accumulates tends to stay until the big spring melt down. During last summer, the ample rains had caused the raspberries to grow and grow and to tower upwards to 9 ft and they hadn't had the chance to harden off when the October cold had struck and I think they've frozen back quite a bit. On the other hand, the 'Somerset' grape hardens off early and what vines had remained above the snowline appear to have wintered without problem. Wasn't it something like October 2010 when we had a similar hard freeze, I think it went down to -10 C in early part of the month and the following spring my Norway maples had taken a hard it.

Was out pruning and tanning this weekend, yes..still lots of snow but we got it too late this year, like to see a early deep dum, [we had but melted away]. I don't think anything suffered much with the long mild fall and easy winter....except maybe the Viking raspberries.

Yes, those two weeks in November were amazingly warm and Nov. went onto become one of the warmest on record. I well recall the wet autumn weather and early October cold and snow that had lasted for weeks on end and stopping the harvest in its tracks and several regions being declared agricultural disaster zones with crops now still laying out in the fields as mouse food.

Konrad, sorry those 'Viking' raspberries have performed poorly for you. In the 30 years I've been growing them, I've only had one significantly reduced crop yield due to winter conditions. I know many people who only grow this variety and some having it planted in open wind swept areas. I think you have mentioned that your orchard is in a bit of a colder area? Konrad, what has been your very best performing raspberry?

Spoke too soon, only the tops of the raspberry canes had been damaged in the early freeze and otherwise all looks good.

Luckily my maples hardened off right before the October collapse this year. My crimson sunset, prairie splendor and red rocket all turned color and dropped leaves right before the bad weather and they are all pushing buds out right now. Should see the awesome red maple flowers within 10 days if it stays as warm as they say.

No no...don't feel bad Terry on these Vikings...still love them when I can harvest some tasty berries...you're right, they're grown in a low spot and have a hard time hardening off with too much moisture, even when grown along spruce trees. I'll be digging some up and transplant on higher ground. Will have to check how green mine are....green now sometimes doesn't mean that they're alive. I find the Killarney is my best..then Souris.

I ended up losing 'Crimson King' that had thrived for many years and had attained a trunk 6 inches across, it had been planted rather close to the compost pile and had begun to put on crazy extreme rank growth unable to harden off.

Nate, you must be in a bit of a micro climate if your trees are already pushing buds, or maybe those trees are just prone to doing so.

Konrad, I did give 'Killarney' a try many years ago, though it was in a very dry location nearby to trees and it had failed to thrive, though I recall the fruit was on the large size.

I expected to see flowers on the red maple by now, just got back from a vacation yesterday but even with the warm temps this week, they are still only slowing pushing out. Might be cold frozen ground from the lack of snow this year. All of my trees bud's are coming albeit fairly slow and steady.

My crimson sunset maple had leaves in april last year. Its flowers were coming out in March and it had to reset after a cold morning, but they made it out in april.

Crimson King I have found is not the hardiest in Edmonton long term. It will keep top killing because it doesn't shut down early enough in the fall. I don't think it has anything to do with low temps because we have had zone 5 winters a couple years and I have seen new growth tip kill then it will be -35 another year and it won't lose anything if the fall is long enough. That being said I have seen two crimson king maples that are about 40ft tall and 40ft wide in E-town.

I have found the Lethbridge Crimson King Maple (Prairie Splendor) practically bulletproof in the Edmonton area. I have seen lots of them and many in sherwood park are starting to get in the 20 to 30 foot range with no kill any years. If you want a purple maple, you should have no problems with that. I'm not sure why the nurseries don't grow them and sell them at large caliper size. Greenland sells crimson king in large caliper and I have no clue why, other than the fact that they can just buy it from oregon, bc or ontario and not have to grow it themselves....they should grow big prairie splendors!

As for a hardy weeping willow, look no further than the lace weeping willow. It is the actual salix babylonica and not an uglier cross like the prairie cascade (sorry if you have one) :) It seems bulletproof and there are some big ones at the windermere golf course as well as at waterworks and ponds on ellerslie. They have one that is about 40ft tall and they thought it was a weeping birch. I was blown away by it as normally you only see prairie cascade that large.

I am fairly convinced that when you buy trees from a nursery that resells them from a bc grower, beware the late shutdown its first fall and early leaf out its first spring. After it realizes our change of season length compared to bc, it will adjust the following year. That is exactly what my crimson sunset did this year. Coming much slower so it doesn't get its flowers burnt again. Smart trees!

You can actually artificially shut trees down with a certain chemical that mimics its natural cycle. Worth it if you are trying borderline trees as it may give them the first strong year it needs.

Yes, in Edmonton, I have seen a few large specimens of 'Crimson King' and one very large green leafed Norway. I do not know if it still exists, though about 25 years ago, I had been stopped in my tracks when coming across what was likely a 'CK' maple (or possibly a seed grown tree) in someone's yard in Jasper, Alberta. The soil there is of course rocky and lean and thus lending to the tree hardening off.

My tallest 'Prairie Splendor' is now pushing about 20 ft tall, it had struggled badly for several years in a location with heavy clayish soil, though top dressings of compost and a light feeding of fertilizer had finally kicked the thing into gear and it's now become my best tree. The others had their trunks very badly sun scalded and unfortunately, I had needed to cut them down to allow for regrowth.

That 'Lace' weeping willow looks very attractive and I hope to see this tree become widely planted in this region and I really should attempt to track down one for myself.

Upcoming conditions are calling for temperatures to be well below normal. Though, things are wanting to grow, I see the saskatoon buds are really pushing and the hazelnuts are producing their tiny little red blooms.

I don't think this bad weather will hurt anything. Unless you get -10 with leaves already out, I think the plants are safe. I measure 10 inches of snow so far today and apparently still a good 15 hours to go. We got 12 inches a couple weeks ago when Edmonton got nothing. I'm wondering if we are starting to push for records somehow..... Do one of you have that Alberta record book that says all the temperature records for the province? I'm curious what a single snowfall record is (not in the mountains). I could see us getting 2ft in this snowfall.

Here is a picture of today so far and the other was my red rocket maple pushing out flowers yesterday.

I welcome this snow...slows down things even further, better a late start for plant survival.

I'd take cold rain anyday in April to this. Such a mess, roads are terrible, shoveling is almost impossible with how heavy it is. I get your point with the plants but at this rate I won't have leaves till mid May on any trees at earliest. That makes for a very short season. Everything came out end of April last year and it was great....till the coldest October I've ever seen lol.

We seem to have missed most of the snow, but the much cooler temperatures are welcome. I prefer a slower spring even though I spend a lot of time examining my fruit grafts from last year anxiously willing them to be alive and wishing they would start to bud.

Like many, I'm totally sick of this very long drawn out winter ... I guess, it's pay back time for all that fantastic warm weather of the last few years. Unless things soon turn around and become warm and windy, it's gonna be a substantial time before farmers can get back out on the fields to sow their crops, never mind about finishing last years harvest if any of it remains salvageable.

April 18 th and the snowplow is again going by. Robins are forced to scratch around the foundation of the house where the snow has melted away to find worms and insects, they don't have snow shovels to dig through the 6 to 8 inches of snow that remains everywhere else. So un-spring like, frogs have not been croaking, nor birds singing ... though, it's been very good snowman making weather, lol.

One large annoyance of living in this province is the unbelievable swinging of temperatures. Rarely do daily temps ever sit on the average for any month from October to April. May to September carries more balance and summer typically has most days that don't stray too far from the average but every other month has swings 30 degrees below average to 15 degrees above average.

We have to be one of the few countries in the world that can hold onto snow in April for a week.

Temperature records seem to be set en masse every month in the United States. I don't see that happening with such frequency in our country.....maybe its just the gigantic population difference which is making their heat island effect shine so much brighter down there. Or our media doesn't report such instances with frequency.

I know this cold thing has been beaten to death but if we stay on course for the 2 week forecast that will have been about 3 weeks straight of below average temps. Not one day at average even. I wonder how typical that is.

Until the jet stream decides it wants to be to the north of us, we're stuck with continued below normal temps and higher than normal precipitation. The coming days are again calling for wretched conditions with rain / snow mix and several days with temps hovering around freezing. This is one of the longest drawn out winters I can recall. Outdoor greenhouses are often open and stocked by April 25 th, I guess that sure won't be happening!

One day we'll wake up and have to put air conditioning on....but I don't have. lol.

I think this thread has to be renamed " April Cold". Expecting snow for the next 3 days.

But...for most of us it's not over till past mid May...we get now most years.

Leaves are generally beginning to show on the trees at the end of April and we all remember this time last year and the warmth that was upon us and the fires that were to come ... such a stark contrast! No, it's not abnormal to receive a dump of snow even well into May ... though, it is usual that for the most part, we have experienced consistently below normal temperatures for weeks on end, other than the occasion pleasant mild day here and there. A friend from Barrhead said that farmers are having a great deal of difficulty getting to their livestock to supply them with feed and there's been high numbers of calf deaths. On the bright side, when it does warm up, the grass is gonna be lush as heck ... but, just watch out for the mosquitoes that are to come!

From Today ... April 23 / 2017

By no means do I think snow should be done falling at this point but my source of annoyance may also rest in the fact that my town has broken 10 degrees 3 times in April when the average temperature for the whole month is supposed to be 11. I leave home on Thursday and it's 7. I get to edmonton and it's 16. I am sort of dying for some resemblance of normalcy. Funny enough the trees are still pushing out their flowers and buds. And I'm elated that all of my super rare tree varieties survived another winter.

Blows my mind how many times I look in the news and see southern alberta at 20 degrees when central alberta is 0. Been very prevalent this April. I'm in kelowna right now and they are less than impressed at this April. Almost no trees have leaves yet which is very abnormal

I agree, we've been lucky for the most part, but not today

Just to put it in perspective, Whitehorse Yukon has had the same April as Edmonton. Beautiful!

It's days like these I daydream about living somewhere warm and carefree, growing roses, and perhaps creating something like this:

Until then I'll fill my indoors with as many plants as possible. I think ittakes some strong perseverance to garden in the north. I've learned to try to make every minute count with this short growing season.

I reworded my previous post, as I think it might not have come across quite as intended. Yes, BC had a pretty darn rough winter and the interior also cooler and wetter. I just took a look at Kelowa's two week forecast and it shows continued below normal temperatures. Now, in this region, at this time of the year, field sown crops are often beginning to go in the ground, though the wet saturated condition will push that way back ... unless, we get some amazing warm dry conditions and without such, seeding itself and crop maturation could be jeopardized in the event we're not granted a warm extended summer. Coming from a farm background, I have seldom seen an April like this.

PNR, most of my daffodils are planted out in the garden and not benefiting from the protection and warmth of the house. Now, these are normally in full bloom about May 10 th, though at the present time have barely broken the ground and are again covered in a blanket of snow.

PNR, I often head over the Rose Forum and torture myself looking at the lush and beautiful photos posted by those in warmer zones ... and, yes, I can't help but contemplate moving, lol.

I torture myself over at the hosta forum, lol.

North53, then you might have seen this thread.

Misery loves company

Yes I did. Beautiful hostas, but since they're in pots it's easier to protect them I think. Every time we have frost after my hostas have leafed out, I find that my efforts to protect them prove futile. Damage is always done no matter what I try. Honestly, I don't even know why I grow them, between frosts and slugs and them being water hogs. It's not sensible.

Apparently this was the second snowiest April in last 50 years as well as the snowiest month in the last 5 years beating out all of the winter months of the last 5 years!

At least rose rosette virus and Japanese beetles are not prevalent in the north. I would be quite happy if the snow and cold killed off lily beetles. Lol, I think I am reaching.

I like the hostas in pots method. I have ''Abigua Drinking Gourd' hosta which I am very fond of and would like it to get big one day, but it takes so very long to come up. Perhaps I try to turn it into a houseplant lol.

North53, in that hosta thread, it mentions of folks from Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Sweden etc., all enduring snowy or frosty conditions, made me feel just a bit better that we're not the only ones! As for hostas, they don't seem to love me all that much, I guess the beds in which they're situated don't exactly have the best soil and it shows. I probably should move most to the north side of the garage where the soil is much better.

Earlier today, I was mentioning that I recall few such snowy and cold months of April and the stats now reflect that. Okay, April '73 or '74 was bad, I remember those massive drifts!

I could have done with some snow this winter! We had -25 with less than an inch of snow on the ground, the deepest ice in the ground anyone around here can remember and now that things are coming up I'm starting to take stock of what I lost. All the crocuses and daffodils rotted, I think I lost about 80% of my strawberries, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the hostas, heucheras, and garlic made it.

Selch9, sorry that you have lost some of your plants to the cold. Most things here seemed to make it through winter okay ... though, that's yet to be fully determined. It's been day after day of dreary overcast skies and snow and more snow and cold ... though, appears it's finally about to come to an end, please be true! I set my seedlings either in the sunroom or on the south facing veranda, though they've now been held in the house for many days without sun and heat and are suffering for it.

Hallelujah!!! Looks like we may have finally made it through to the other side. After 20 days of highs that only reached 10 degrees twice during a period where the average high is supposed to be 13 degrees. Last March was warmer than this April for us. That's really messed considering there is a typical 10 degree difference between the two for averages.

Odd to see a chance for thunderstorms on Sunday now.

As a fruit grower I have welcomed this cold spring with much delay of budding out trees...any additional delays helps getting sweet cherries and apricots to set fruit...beside pears apples and plums, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet till end of May.

I too welcome the cold, it is nice to have normal flowering times that may allow some decent fruit set. Nothing is leafed out yet here, the plum buds are starting to swell just enough to tell if the tree survived the winter. I am a Sask. girl born and bred, love the 4 seasons and am happy to see them come and then go. Weird warm winters put me on edge. LOL

My romance cherries and lilacs are first to show green in their buds. I can't wait to see flowers on both. With the updated week forecast of 3 days between 17 and 20 this week, we should have leaves by end of the week! Saw some flowering forsythia in Edmonton on the weekend and that was nice :)

I'm kind of curious why everyone is so afraid of late frosts. It's only for fruit trees right? Because most other trees can deal with it. I find it interesting to see a place like denver have trees do so well when they can get below -10 in April after everything is leafed out...mind blowing.