Author Topic: has anybody had a normal summer.... (Read 2561 times)

tinkster · « **on:** July 30, 2009, 09:28:50 AM »

I dont know if I even know what a normal summer is anymore but this one is certainly not it. ITs been cool, rainy and almost always cloudy! My roses are just barely hanging on and I am battling something that I have no idea what it is but huge bunches of my ground covers just start turning black and it spreads amost like someone has set the area of fire and nothing is left after it passes through. I dont even know what to do about it except watch it spread.

tink

ponderer · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:01:01 AM »

We're in the same boat. We've got slugs galore, stunted plant growth, and general sogginess. MILDEW!!!

miguynmkoi · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:13:12 AM »

Our summer has been cool too. We only had a few days where it got real hot. Most mornings are overcast/foggy. My roses puttered a few flowers and the leaves are getting mildew like. My German bearded and Dutch irises didn't get enough sun to make a beautiful display $:-\$ but it's drier than dry and we have restricted watering now.

frloplady · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:21:02 AM »

if it's mildew maybe try hydrogen peroxide as a dilute spray? I dunno..normal here, strange on the coast (WA) extreme heat..many I know are losing rabbits

Missa · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:41:23 AM »

Not normal here.

mascot · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:10:47 AM »

hehe...considering what I went through last summer....yeah, back to normal!

oh wait...you mean pond/plant wise, don't you?

SueSTx · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:37:18 AM »

Not normal. We'll have several 100* + days then a 85* + then a few more 100* +
Today is suppose to be 75*

We finally got 1.80 inch of rain last night. Now nearly up to 10" for the entire year.
Power out from 9:45 last night til about 7:30 this morning.
Terrible wind. Broke off the apricot tree nearly to the ground. Slung it across the clothes line and bent the 2" pipes holding it up. One limb just barely missed the corner of the house. Several more 6" or bigger are laying on the north side of the house. No large limbs down in the rest of the yard. Pea sized hail beat my plant all to he!!

mondotomhead · « **Reply #7 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:46:10 AM »

Up here in Massachusetts June had only THREE, that is three days of sunshine. Way below normal temps and it rained and rained and rained. There are slugs everywhere and they are even crawling in the middle of the lawn which I've never seen before. All the strawberries rotted. July is just stating to be hot and it is the last week of the month. My water lettuce and hyacinths just started taking off along with the string algae! This is the worst summer I can remember

Esther · « **Reply #8 on:** July 30, 2009, 12:11:10 PM »

Yah, we're having global warming here. LOL. Tomatoes aren't ripening much. The grape and cherry ones have begin but not much. On the other hand, we had one week of terrible heat and more unusually cool weather than normal.

Pa Nancy · « **Reply #9 on:** July 30, 2009, 12:58:19 PM »

Cool, wet, and cloudy here most days. I don't think we've hit 90* yet this year. Only a couple days hit mid 80's. Dang Global Warming anyhow.

It's cool,but very humid so keep the AC on. Now if it wasn't so dang humid I would be loving this weather.

I have one tomato plant in a pot. I don't know what it is, but we have been eating tomatoes since the week after Father's day from it. That is UNHEARD of here. They usually aren't ready till late August. I picked 7 tomatoes from it just this morning. The week before I picked a dozen. Wonderful plant.

But it looks like it is nearing the end of it's producing.

Freddie Peepers · « **Reply #10 on:** July 30, 2009, 01:00:01 PM »

the only good thing is not needing the air conditioner much
We didn't even put it on until almost the end of June
Still waiting for the first tomatoes to ripen
Mildew is rampant on our honeysuckles and phlox
Same black death as Tinkster described is on our larger patches of veronica
Did have a good spinach and snow pea harvest due to the cooler weather though

Desertponder · « **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2009, 01:29:53 PM »

Its been odd here too. We had a rather long spring. We only had two or three days that were 100+ and now we're past the point of having temps that hot.
We've had more dry thunderstorms than usual. Its been more humid than usual.
Weeds have gone nuts and been nearly impossible to keep up with and other garden plants have suffered.
I've had plants be fine one day and dead the next day. Its really weird. They don't show signs of being stressed or in trouble, just fine one day, dead the next.

The mosquitos are HORRIBLE this year. People are really stressed and grouchy this year.
It hasn't seemed at all "normal" to me this year.

matherfish · « **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2009, 01:45:07 PM »

Sounds like your ground cover may have root rot from sitting in wet ground too long. Our summer has been like yours. Rainy, overcast and cooler than normal. Lilies and lotuses are not growing very fast, and not blooming as normal. Frustrating!

mcp · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2009, 07:08:33 PM »

Saame here cold, cloudy, and rainy.

Kat · « **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2009, 07:19:29 PM »

Last 2 weeks have been rainy & "cold". It is extremely unusual for us this time of the summer to be so wet & cloudy. My tropicals are starting to pout

Vickie · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2009, 07:24:02 PM »

Weird summer here too. July had only maybe 4 days of normal temps. Cool and rainy. High today 74*F. Nights are in low 60's F. And this is not normal for July almost Aug. I have been spraying my roses before Black spot sets in. And picking off yellow leaves. I planted 7 Knock Out roses, and they are not supposed to get Black Spot they are supposed to be resistant. But I have seen some.

bunny56lbc · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2009, 07:28:05 PM »

We're having the same weather as u tink...nasty cold & wet ..feels like fall instead of summer

bonnie

Ky Kim · « **Reply #17 on:** July 31, 2009, 11:13:18 AM »

Ditto to yours Tink. Been an ugly summer.

greenthumbnails · « **Reply #18 on:** July 31, 2009, 11:23:29 AM »

I haven't really noticed much down here, its hot as usual and humid. Summers down here are usually unbearable, so I mostly stay indoors unless I am gardening - in which case I am out there before 11 am or after 6 pm. The only thing I've noticed of late is that instead of the 3:00 half hour shower in the monsoon season, we have been getting half day or sometimes all day rains for a couple of weeks this summer. It doesn't usually rain for so long.

Julles · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2009, 03:10:30 PM »

Here in Houston, starting with the late winter through the spring, we had a LOT of STRONG winds, such that I don't remember from previous years.

Then, most of this summer, a terrible drought. Like, two months or longer with no ran.

And very hot, like, over 100* several days in a row. We generally do have those high temps, but not day after day, week after week. With us being so hot, it's strange hearing that many of you are having uncommonly cool weather.

maryvonne · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2009, 04:00:01 PM »

We had a cooler than normal spring and then went straight into a super hot summer. We have broken many records in the last few days and there are still lots of hot days ahead. Very little rain here too.

Lynne22 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 31, 2009, 05:04:46 PM »

Quote from: tinkster on July 30, 2009, 09:28:50 AM

I dont know if I even know what a normal summer is anymore but this one is certainly not it. ITs been cool, rainy and almost always cloudy! My roses are just barely hanging on and I am battling something that I have no idea what it is but huge bunches of my ground covers just start turning black and it spreads amost like someone has set the area of fire and nothing is left after it passes through. I dont even know what to do about it except watch it spread.

tink

Hi Tink, I lost a Mr. Lincoln that I have had for 8 years. It went down really fast too. I think it got too wet, and had not been able to dry out, with all the rain we have had this year. No signs of pest, fungus, or anything. Just branches turned black and died. Within a week. I will wait until next spring then order a JP Mr. Lincoln. I was really bummed out about it though. It's like losing a pet really, since I had it for so long.

I hope you don't lose yours. The other thing-you might have a fungus/bacteria like I did. I just got some Physan20, which was recommended by the The University of Florida, Institute for Agricultural Sciences. I wrote them because I was at wits end, and no one locally, or on the internet knew what it was. I still have not gotten it under control, and the lilies are still suffering. It's been weeks since this started. I used a very dilute fine mist spray for the lilies, and for the other plants, just soaked them with the same spray. Just look up the Physan20, it's pretty flexible stuff. And broad.

Not sure if this is all going to make a difference, but I could not find an answer as to what was causing so much havoc on my patio and pond, so I wrote to the The University of Florida, Institute for Agricultural Sciences. You might try that in your state.

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 31, 2009, 05:46:06 PM »

No, not normal. Abnormally hot here. We've broken temperature records and I'm afraid to see my electric bill because we've already ran our AC more than the previous three years put together and I have damage on plants right and left. This was after an abnormally cold winter.