Down Under Backyard

[Ianmc]

Here's a few more pix taken today.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[DesertZone]

Very cool pics

[Ianmc]

[Okanagan desert-palms]

Great pics Ian. I really like the Canary Island date palm and your W.filifera . How old would these palms be?
John

[Ianmc]

Thanks Aaron and John for your favourable comments.
The Phoenix is about 40 years old and the Filifera about 10 years old.
I also have a W. Robusta which is growing fast and is possibly a couple of years younger than Filifera but looks like it might grow past the Filifera in the next couple of years.
Cheers Ian Mc

[Wes North Van]

What climate zone would you be in?
What are your winters like, wet or dry?
What would your low temps be and for how long?

Great looking yard!

Perfect microclimate for your washy being so close to a brick wall.

[Ianmc]

Hi Wes
Thanks for your comments.
According to Ian Barclay of Washington who you may know of, there is no exact equivalent WSDA or Western Zone equivalent to our weather.
According to another we are closest to Sequim,Washington as like people there we are subject to fohn winds over high mountains.Accordingly on one side of the mountains it might be 16 Celsius and 30 Celsius on the other side.The southerly are the cold ones on our side as they can come with a severe blast from the Antarctic.
I stll think of us being in an 8A to 8B range as minimum winter temps for the last 4 years (ground frosts taken 1 inch above ground level)have all been equivalent to 8A or 8B.Ranging from minus 8 Celsius to minus 11.5 c winter minimums.
Winters are usually very dry start June to end of September. Last winter was particularly dry with less than 2 1/2 inches (62 mms) for the whole 3 months. Annual rainfall is about 25 inches and frost never stays on grond throughout the day except in isolated pockets on particularly cold days.I believe you call our climate oceanic temperate.Cheers:Ian Mc

[Wes North Van]

That is the difference between our two zone 8 areas. We are wet all winter and we can get a frost that will last all day. Not often but it happens. In Jan 2004 we had three days that never got above the freezing mark. My low was only -9C but my day time highs stayed below 0C.
This kills washies and CIDPs.