Year of the Polar Vortex

Chicago Beachwear in July.

     First an apology for my long absence. My clients simply overwhelmed me with work. I could just see the reaction from some of them  to a post from me: "So the guy hasn't found time to do my job yet, but he has time to scribble." First things first.

     Yesterday at 3 PM my thermometer read 61 degrees -- more than 20 degrees lower than the average high for that day. This continues a trend that began with our ferociously cold winter that led to a cold and wet spring. Spring in turn spawned the coldest July on record.

    The coldest July on record sure beats the coldest January on record, and I, for one, was a happy camper -- unlike Chicago beach goers,who had to deal with frigid water temperatures as well as cool air.

     The response of our plants has been mixed. The winter created some real damage this year. Roses had to be trimmed much lower this spring and  many yews  were covered with brown tips from winter dessication. Our insect pests like Japanese beetles, declined in number. But some of the hearty fungal spores enjoyed the wet spring and attacked plants they had left alone previously -- -like my broccoli.

This year's invalid broccoli..

     I had a beautiful patch of basil this year. Just before we planned to harvest half of it to make pesto for the winter, an absurd "polar vortex" blew in and blackened most of our basil leaves-- in July! We had to cut the top  3/4 of each plant and then wait for them to re-grow.

     Fortunately, though, most  plants in the area were just held back a couple of weeks. Most  flowers and veggies are now thriving,  and we have planted seeds for a fall crop in our garden. After three cold seasons in a row, maybe we will get a break this fall.