On 22 Mar 07, at 11:04, Jim McKenney wrote: > Obviously there is a lot more to winter than low temperatures. A > friend who gardens in nearby zone 6 - on a site which slopes into the > south east - regularly reports earlier bloom for some plants than I > observe in my own garden. Here in Victoria, it's well known (among gardeners) that flowering seasons can differ by as much as two weeks over quite small distances. Some of you may be familiar with the old saw "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." Around here, there's an extra clause: "or walk over a block or two." Victoria is a fairly hilly town, and being on a peninsula, the saltchuck is rarely far away. As a result there is enormous variation in microclimate. You can see this in real time at http://victoriaweather.ca/twod.php?zone=victoria This is based on a network of automated weather stations at local schools and similar places. If you look at these weather maps frequently you will often see quite sharp variations in what's happening. The school closest to me, Campusview Elementary, often differs significantly from the site just NE of it at the Ian Stewart Complex, even though the distance is probably no more than 1000'. Campusview school is in a shallow depression at the north foot of Mt. Tolmie, a 400' eminence, with many trees adjacent, while the Ian Stewart Complex is on a slight rise and is just far enough further north and away from trees to be substantially warmer a great deal of the time. Unfortunately, the Victoria weather network doesn't have closely enough spaced stations to capture the full detail of the variation in microclimate, but it does show some of the variation. And as I drive around the city at this time of year, it's quite striking how certain indicator plants flower much earlier in some locations than in others. Flowering quinces are a good indicator at this time of year; later on California poppies, widely naturalized, will do the job. I've often thought it would be an interesting research project to plot the onset of spring via the flowering of such plants. So it may be that it's not so much there being "more to winter than low temperatures" as it is there being more to the onset of spring. That Jim McKenney's friend has a SE facing garden leads to the surmise that the friend's garden gets more winter insolation and thus experiences soil warming earlier. Bulbs in fl ower as I write: Trillium ovatum x rivale; Anemone appenina & various cultivars of A. blanda; A. caucasicum gone over. Narcissus eystettensis, N. Dove Wings', N. 'Louis Armstrong', N. 'Rip van Winkle'; Cyclamen pseudibericum, C. repandum; C. coum mostly going over. Muscari 'Blueboy' and a host of self-sown seedlings of same just coming into flower. Tecophliaea cyanocrocus leichtlinii still putting on a good show in its pot. Some erythroniums just starting, some in full throat, others completely over. Eranthis completely gone over; Convallaria showing only tight growth buds. N. 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' long gone. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island