Sprekelia dormancy question and cold tolerseance
Adam Fikso (Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:19:18 PST)

Hello all. Just to reclarify and add to the cold tolerance issue for those
of you who have been following this thread. The Chicago suburb where I live
(Glenview) had only 2 days at zero ° F last year, and only two days the
year before. This year, so far--NONE.

I have no question about the fact of global warming and neither should any
of you. Local effects I've noticed are that fireflies appear about June 20
instead of July 4; Magnolia soulangeana flowers used to be gone on or about
the week containing May 5, usually due to rain and wind after bloom. Last
year, they were gone the last week in April.. My stepson who is a flight
engineer in the Air Force has been coping with warmer temperatures and
changes aloft for the last 5 years-- of sufficient magnitude to have to take
these changes into account even at altitudes above 20,000 feet. Warmer
temperatures mean less lift for the aircraft, and sometimes night takeoffs
only. ALL the glaciers of the world have shown severe recession due to
melting, and some have retreated more than 5 miles. A few have nearly
disappeared. There are no more snows on Kilimanjaro.

My Hippeastrelia that came through last winter did NOT come through the
winter of 1985 (where, as I remember, the temperature was -25° F with a wind
chill of -85° F. Yes-- Chicago has some very tough winters, but not lately.
This year we've been running about 10-15 degrees above the average. .
Cheers, Adam in USDA Zone 5a, in Glenview, IL

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Fikso" <adam14113@ameritech.net>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, January 01, 2007 9:38 PM
Subject: Re: [pbs] Sprekelia dormancy question