Fidalgo Island Crossings
Life in the Weather on South Fidalgo Island, Washington
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February 08FebruaryView Full Album While not yet spring, February means the worst of winter is over. There are already awakenings seen all over the garden. The early bloomers are earlier than usual this year due to our record warm temperatures in January. Vinca, hellebores, pieris and hamamelis are blooming now. Our native Oregon grape and Indian plum are flowering a full month early. The fragrant sarcococca are almost finished blooming. Their insignificant white blossoms put a wonderful, lingering fragrance in the air. This is always an amazing winter surprise. Consider these shrubs for a shady spot if you want something special in your yard. At this time, most evergreen shrubs are beginning to take up nutrients through their roots. This means February is the best time to fertilize. I learned this from a master rhododendron horticulturist. This will prepare them for the single growth spurt that will occur right after they bloom. Don’t overdo it. If the plants look good, you can skip a year or two between feedings. The rhodies are swelling their flower buds now. My earliest is PJM which will probably bloom before the end of the month. The leaf buds on Japanese maples, dogwoods and deciduous shrubs are also beginning to swell. A new evergreen clematis planted last spring is getting ready to flower for the first time. Japanese black pines are sprouting their unique silver candles. February weather can be gray and drizzly, but also relatively quiet. Mornings might bring fog and a calm glassy surface to the bay. Temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s F (4-15° C) are expected. It’s perfect weather to get out and do some winter cleanup in the yard. 6:04 PM GMT | Read comments(0)February 06Another Mystery Plant I have another unknown plant to submit for help with identification. This one grows out of the clay bank that borders the west shore of Similk Bay. The habitat is continuous deep shade with constant seepage of water out of the bank. It must also tolerate the splashing of salt water during storms and high tides. Large palmate leaves grow more than 18 inches (46 cm) wide on thick stems from a common origin forming a rosette. Leaves and stems are smooth, almost waxy, hairless and shiny. I have never seen any flowers. They grew in great numbers out of the exposed clay low along the beach. I was startled to discover that much of the bank has now collapsed, perhaps due to the January 18th storm. Very few of these plants remain and this little specimen with 6 inch leaves was the only one I could reach for a photo. If anyone can identify it, I would appreciate hearing from you. It may not seem important to some, but I do like to know what the things are that I see around me. Meanwhile, I still have not been able to identify Mystery Plant #1 (below) that comes up wild in my yard. Again your help in giving it a name would be appreciated. 8:39 AM GMT | Read comments(0)February 02Sole FoodTime: 2:30 PM, Temperature 52.5° F, Dew Point 46.5° F, Barometer 29.81 in, Wind 2 mph SW, Humidity 81% While some parts of the US and Western Europe have suffered under severe winter weather, ours has been milder than usual. We just finished the warmest January on record here. Perhaps this balances with our experience last year. Southern California, on the other hand, has been hit with torrential rains. These are the telltale signs of an El Niño controlling our weather. The usual Pacific storm paths will split with some coming here (e.g. the January 18th storm) and others tracking into California. This is not good news for Vancouver, B.C. They are set to host the Olympic Winter Games beginning in a few days. One of the basic requirements will be snow, but the systems that produce it are going south. This afternoon, I took a hike up the beach to try out a new camera. I spotted this seagull working very hard at something. Apparently, his eyes were bigger than his stomach but he wasn’t giving up, even with me looking on. It was an opportunity to test the 20x zoom on the camera. 4:47 PM GMT | Read comments(0)January 18Aftermath The January 18, 2010 windstorm did a bit of damage in the neighborhood. This included some disruption to the neighbors’ weather station mounting, an example of adding insult to injury. There is a wonderful fragrance of cedar along the beach. Several of the big logs are Western Red Cedar. Apparently, the storm banged them around releasing their aroma. Front lawns and bulkheads were over-washed by the storm surge and some significant erosion took place. Although our manicured lawns and landscaping may have suffered, the natural world can be made more beautiful by storms. Mount Baker, an active volcano, reminds us that violent forces of nature are always possible. Let this compel us to think of Haiti. 4:54 PM GMT | Read comments(0)High Wind, High TideTime 7:50 AM, Temperature 50.2° F, Dew Point 41.5° F, Barometer 29.35 in, Wind SSE 42 mph, Humidity 72% While not among the worst, one of our classic windstorms came through this morning. A deep Pacific low or mid-latitude cyclone system will form west of California, brush up the Washington coast, then move inland over Vancouver Island, Canada. Nestled between the Olympics and Cascades, the Puget Sound Basin becomes a wind tunnel. The wind started picking up last night about 10:30 PM and peaked at 42 mph (70 kph) just before 8 this morning. A high tide of 11.1 feet also occurred here at 7:13 this morning with the resulting storm surge shown in the first photo. By 10:00 AM the winds settled down to an average of 9 mpg (15 kph), the skies cleared and the sun came out. As the tide receded, the neighbors were left with a new driftwood collection. What is not portrayed in the photos is the sound of big logs hitting our riprap seawall. It resonates through the ground and up into the house like pulsing thunder. Remarkably, we did not lose power with this one. Perhaps why I am fascinated with the weather is revealed here. 1:00 PM GMT | Read comments(0)
While not yet spring, February means the worst of winter is over. There are already awakenings seen all over the garden. The early bloomers are earlier than usual this year due to our record warm temperatures in January. Vinca, hellebores, pieris and hamamelis are blooming now. Our native Oregon grape and Indian plum are flowering a full month early. The fragrant sarcococca are almost finished blooming. Their insignificant white blossoms put a wonderful, lingering fragrance in the air. This is always an amazing winter surprise. Consider these shrubs for a shady spot if you want something special in your yard. At this time, most evergreen shrubs are beginning to take up nutrients through their roots. This means February is the best time to fertilize. I learned this from a master rhododendron horticulturist. This will prepare them for the single growth spurt that will occur right after they bloom. Don’t overdo it. If the plants look good, you can skip a year or two between feedings. The rhodies are swelling their flower buds now. My earliest is PJM which will probably bloom before the end of the month. The leaf buds on Japanese maples, dogwoods and deciduous shrubs are also beginning to swell. A new evergreen clematis planted last spring is getting ready to flower for the first time. Japanese black pines are sprouting their unique silver candles. February weather can be gray and drizzly, but also relatively quiet. Mornings might bring fog and a calm glassy surface to the bay. Temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s F (4-15° C) are expected. It’s perfect weather to get out and do some winter cleanup in the yard.
I have another unknown plant to submit for help with identification. This one grows out of the clay bank that borders the west shore of Similk Bay. The habitat is continuous deep shade with constant seepage of water out of the bank. It must also tolerate the splashing of salt water during storms and high tides. Large palmate leaves grow more than 18 inches (46 cm) wide on thick stems from a common origin forming a rosette. Leaves and stems are smooth, almost waxy, hairless and shiny. I have never seen any flowers. They grew in great numbers out of the exposed clay low along the beach. I was startled to discover that much of the bank has now collapsed, perhaps due to the January 18th storm. Very few of these plants remain and this little specimen with 6 inch leaves was the only one I could reach for a photo. If anyone can identify it, I would appreciate hearing from you. It may not seem important to some, but I do like to know what the things are that I see around me. Meanwhile, I still have not been able to identify Mystery Plant #1 (below) that comes up wild in my yard. Again your help in giving it a name would be appreciated.
Time: 2:30 PM, Temperature 52.5° F, Dew Point 46.5° F, Barometer 29.81 in, Wind 2 mph SW, Humidity 81% While some parts of the US and Western Europe have suffered under severe winter weather, ours has been milder than usual. We just finished the warmest January on record here. Perhaps this balances with our experience last year. Southern California, on the other hand, has been hit with torrential rains. These are the telltale signs of an El Niño controlling our weather. The usual Pacific storm paths will split with some coming here (e.g. the January 18th storm) and others tracking into California. This is not good news for Vancouver, B.C. They are set to host the Olympic Winter Games beginning in a few days. One of the basic requirements will be snow, but the systems that produce it are going south. This afternoon, I took a hike up the beach to try out a new camera. I spotted this seagull working very hard at something. Apparently, his eyes were bigger than his stomach but he wasn’t giving up, even with me looking on. It was an opportunity to test the 20x zoom on the camera.
The January 18, 2010 windstorm did a bit of damage in the neighborhood. This included some disruption to the neighbors’ weather station mounting, an example of adding insult to injury. There is a wonderful fragrance of cedar along the beach. Several of the big logs are Western Red Cedar. Apparently, the storm banged them around releasing their aroma. Front lawns and bulkheads were over-washed by the storm surge and some significant erosion took place. Although our manicured lawns and landscaping may have suffered, the natural world can be made more beautiful by storms. Mount Baker, an active volcano, reminds us that violent forces of nature are always possible. Let this compel us to think of Haiti.
Time 7:50 AM, Temperature 50.2° F, Dew Point 41.5° F, Barometer 29.35 in, Wind SSE 42 mph, Humidity 72% While not among the worst, one of our classic windstorms came through this morning. A deep Pacific low or mid-latitude cyclone system will form west of California, brush up the Washington coast, then move inland over Vancouver Island, Canada. Nestled between the Olympics and Cascades, the Puget Sound Basin becomes a wind tunnel. The wind started picking up last night about 10:30 PM and peaked at 42 mph (70 kph) just before 8 this morning. A high tide of 11.1 feet also occurred here at 7:13 this morning with the resulting storm surge shown in the first photo. By 10:00 AM the winds settled down to an average of 9 mpg (15 kph), the skies cleared and the sun came out. As the tide receded, the neighbors were left with a new driftwood collection. What is not portrayed in the photos is the sound of big logs hitting our riprap seawall. It resonates through the ground and up into the house like pulsing thunder. Remarkably, we did not lose power with this one. Perhaps why I am fascinated with the weather is revealed here.