This was the second most difficult gardening year of the past 45+ seasons. Only the year of Hurricane IKE tops this one. Time heals all wounds and already with the 4 months of average rainfall, the dreadful memories of this past year are fading. Still, I need to post my yearly climate/weather chart so that I can have some documentation.
WATER: Precious rains have returned this winter
It will also help me remember why some of my plants and trees are dead! Ugh! I do this every year and check the
National Weather Service website for the information. (Click the link to see their colorful charts).
Our pomegranate tree: Hope springs eternal!
2011 broke 10 monthly records for hottest & driest months. 2011 was the 3rd driest and 2nd hottest year in the last 122 years of weather records.
2011 was the third driest year on record. It was the driest up until October when the rains started again.
1917 is still the driest month of our 122 years of record keeping here in Houston.
The start of 2012 looks far better than this time a year ago. We received an inch of rain yesterday and 1.30 inches today. This marks both January and February as above normal in rainfall.
Thanks for stopping by!
David/:0)
What a great snapshot of the year!!! Love it! The recent rains are truly a godsend, aren't they! We can only hope that the 2011 summer conditions will not be repeated this year.
ReplyDeleteDavid, Know how you feel. We had a couple of horribly hot and dry years here a couple of years ago but then it swung the opposite way.
ReplyDeleteI have awarded you a Leibster Blog Award as one of my favourite bloggers (see my blog for details)
I knew last year was bad, but I didn't know all these facts. I feel for the poor people that endured 1917!
ReplyDeleteDavid, Thanks for giving us a recap of the year 2011. Somehow it makes me feel better knowing we all survived, even if not all our plants did! It gives me so much hope for the plants that did go through the drought and came out on the other side. Hopefully, the rain we recently received means 2012 will be a much better year.
ReplyDeleteI'm on my weather unit in my classes right now and have been describing the conditions in TX/OK to explain what a drought is. I really hope this year is better for you. My dwarf nepeta is a micro-nepeta as far as I can tell. It's exactly like a regular nepeta except it's tiny and a lot less sprawly. If it were a car it would be a tiny SmartCar. :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I looked up Nepeta in my herb book and it is Catnip (Nepeta cataria). I don't ever recall seeing the dwarf variety, but I'm hopeful to find it. The regular size grows fine here in Houston. :0) David
DeleteLooking at the data presented that way makes it look really bad. Good luck to all of us this 2012.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to forget last year ever happened. What a disaster for our cities!
ReplyDeleteI agree! Hope you get nice rains in Tucson and all of the SW this year. David/:)
DeleteAnd we thought our weather was exceptional last year. It was nothing compared to yours. Here's hoping 2012 is a bit more normal.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. And people here in NM think it was tough...other than last Feb's record cold and this Dec's cold, 10/12 months not too terrible.
ReplyDeletethanks for sending some much needed rain to Central Florida, much appreciated :D
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your record keeping!!