For those of you who know very little about Norway: We are 4,5 million people. The country itself is very long and narrow, with extremely bad roads. If turned upside down, northern Norway would end up in southern Italy. To the north, winter is very long, and very dark. To the south, not every winter gives frost and snow. I'm in the middle, and never know what to expect. Forecasts are as often wrong as not. Finding good gardening stuff is near impossible. The general garden consists of lots of lawn, some flowering shrubs, bushes and trees, lots of evergreen growing wild, narcissi, tulips, roses and perennials of no great variety. Luckily, this is very rapidly changing. Now, people spend money and time building their gardens into a place for relaxation. They grow herbs, make nice terraces, have outdoor fireplaces and fountains, and use a greater variety of perennials. The few who are dedicated plant collectors are a close-knit group where most know of each other, and all are on the mailing lists of the enthusiasts who try and spread new plants around the country. Every new species is trial and error, even some heartbreak. Most of these people let others into their gardens to look around and hopefully get fresh ideas. I praise their efforts! When it comes to landscaping - well... To raise a flower bed I have to dig a trench of at least 40 cm depth to avoid the frost breaking my wall during winter. To make a walk way, we dig away the top 20 cm, fill it with gravel, then sand, and then tiles. This way we avoid getting sea sick when trying to walk it next spring. Most people only use gravel. I don't blame them. And then there's the price of everything garden. Outrageous! But, we're only 4,5 million people, so what can I expect?
Droopy it sounds as though you encounter a lot of the problems we have here in Scotland too. We never know, from one day to the other, what our weather will be and so it's difficult to know just what to put into the garden. Our temperatures, throughout the year, can vary between 30 degrees C in the summer to minus ten degrees C(with wind chill) in the winter. Ian (my husband) and I go over to Holland each year to visit friends and also to pick up plants as they are around a third of the price they are over here. and much better quality. Most of the garden centres here get there plants from Holland too but they are never as good, or as cheap, as buying them for yourself in Holland. Thanks for letting us know a little about Norway and what gardening is like for you over there.
This is one of the reasons that I joined the Stew - a sympathetic ear, some understanding, and lots of gardens looking nothing like mine! Did I mention the sheep mentality? We have a lot of it. If the neighbour's got it, I must have it, too! And vice versa. Lucky for me, I'm too weird to bother with things like that. This is true for Norway also, and I can't say I blame the Dutch for keeping the best stuff themselves. We also import a lot from England, especially Hellebores and Trilliums.
How frequent are gardening events there Droopy? There is at least one big event here close to Malmö each year (haven't been to it yet though). We love representation from every country possible also. You're doing a great job for Norway!
Droopy, thanks for letting us know about gardening conditions you face. Anytime you need to let out your frustrations about it, we are here to listen. We have just come out of a 10 year drought, the last two years being the worst part and I lost many plants, last year especially. We never know for sure how much (if any) winter weather we will have each year, but we always know for certain that summer will be dreadful.
Keep us informed.... Thanks for allowing us to hear how you live in those parts of the world. Not all of USA is warm...It is really amusing, how our weather is controlled.... Down south it is hot hot hot. North is cold winter cold and snow, also eastern usa and lots of other states are snow snow snow......I have a very cold winter.. From November to at least end of march.. This year it was longer......We thought summer would never come.. This week we are rain rain rain.
I live in Arizona which is in the southwest of the US. I live at 4,200-4,500 ft altitude so though we have dry conditions it isn't as hot as the lower altitudes. We have frost in winter but the ground doesn't freeze here. We have a very low rainfall so we water a lot. This year we have had a little rain but only enough to make the weeds grow. My yard and garden look so bad this year. Some is due to a knee injury the last of March but mostly due to the weather. All the watering has just kept it alive. The daisies are doing the best of all and I just planted them this spring. Now, we have thousands of grasshoppers eating everything. Oh, well! Gardening is an adventure at best. dooley
I love to read about how you all cope with your different problems! Gardeners are sure innovative, I think. Did you know that US troops posted to NATO quarters in Oslo received "wilderness-pay"? (Don't know what you call it, so I translate.) And this is our capitol! I don't think we have one, Frank... Only small ones, that the regional gardening clubs arrange. I read gardening magazines, and many of the featured gardens are Swedish or Danish. Both are great gardening nations. Let's get the ones with all-year-gardens to post lots of photos of their lovely flowers, shall we? Then we can sit back and enjoy indoor winter life and look forward to spring. I always find comfort in knowing that I'm not alone.
Yes, here too, hence my suggestion. And a huge mug of hot cocoa with a little dash of cognac in it. Makes winter almost bearable.
Here in Ontario we get wet, wet, wet fall conditions then it freezes. Then comes the snow and even colder conditions. And then more snow. When spring thaw starts, it is wet, wet, wet again. Once it dries we get rainy season. And then in July and August we get hot and dry until the fall rainy season. We really only get 5 months of gardening time. Our temperatures go from as cold as -35°C in winter to as much as 35°C in summer.
Does it stay cold once the weather has turned, Netty? Our so-called "winters" often go snow-frost-thaw-frost-thaw-snow-etc for three-four months. Not good for the poor plants.
November and December fluctuate. January and February are bitter cold. March and April fluctuate as well. Last year was a crazy winter...December and the first half of January was very mild (we cut grass here on Boxing day!!) but then it got bitter cold and we had huge amounts of snow dumped on us. And then I thought spring would NEVER get here!
I've wanted to bring the mower out on Christmas Eve, just for show, but never did! The grass stops growing somewhere in October, hot or not. I guess it has to do with daylight hours. Now it gets dark around 21.30, and it will only get worse. I love the long days of summer! I can weed all night if I want to.
