Our summer has been milder this year compared to our last couple of summers. Of course a 93 degree summer day here after the last two years is like paying less than $3.00 a gallon for gas now. It’s funny what you can get used to.
Every year is different. We went to the lake early this year to avoid the excessive heat. It wasn’t extremely warm, but the wind blew so hard the lake was white-capping for almost the whole week. It was nice for sitting around and enjoying the breeze, but not really the ideal skiing conditions. Now we are going back after Labor Day. I wonder if the water temps are going to cool down to where it might be too cool to enjoy swimming or skiing.
Cooler temps in the summer always mean earlier mums. We had about 2 weeks of night temperatures below 70 in early August when the early varieties of mums start to set bud. Some of the early ones that are apparently more susceptible to the cooler summer temperatures have budded up and are starting to crack some color. One early red in our #8 pots is blooming out fast.
The pictures tell it all. You can see what colors we have available by clicking on the Current Availability link at the top of the right hand menu. The Future Availability shows approximate future availability for the fall mums. You can also see our poinsettia availability.
Also due to a mix up with our fall plug supplier. We got our petunias in a week early and they too are enjoying the weather. That means that they will probably all go bad or get too tall before we can sell them with the other color which isn’t ready…yet.
I expect the rest of our annuals to be ready in 2 weeks including some or maybe all the pansies and violas. It’s still too early for me to make a good call on them.
If you look closely, you can see the difference a cooling pad makes when the pansies are close to it. The dark box in the upper left side is the cooling pad and you can see how the pansies in front of it are fuller and more lush than the ones right next to them not in front of the cooling pad. The pads can lower the temperature in a greenhouse about 10 degrees lower than the ambient temperature. The temperatures directly in front of the pads are 20-30 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature. Once you get 5-6 feet away from the pads, the air warms up considerably.
