It’s been raining properly for a couple of hours here, it’s lovely.
That sure ain’t Zurich
Nice amount of rain today. Bet the farmers are happy to see it at last.
Went for a short walk under the rain. The amount of pollen is interesting. Yellow stains in culverts and gutters.
When we lived on the Bodensee, this time of year we could see vast rafts of pollen floating on the surface. Ugh. Every day here we are taking the feather and static wands to the cars…
I wont even mention how ‘yellow’ my white sailboat became … solution was to take her out, use a water pump to give her a full shower … LOL
Cold enough overnight for the central heating to come on a little bit first thing in the morning yesterday and today.
Eisheiligen starts tomorrow, with some fairly cold day temps, but the nights are not freezing. I’m still gonna cover my new tarragon plant. Mamertus on Monday is the first saint of the Eisheiligen 5. He’s the patron saint of earthquakes. Pancratius on Tuesday was fed to dogs by the Romans for converting to Christianity. He’s the patron saint of blossoms. Servatius (Wednesday) is the patron saint of frost damage. St. Boniface (Thursday) is a bad-luck guy. The Romans boiled him in tar for converting. It’s also Himmelfahrt, so I think I’ll stay home. On Friday we get Kalte Sophie, and sure enough, Saturday is supposed to be warm and sunny.
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Getting a nice lot of rain today. 
And, following our gorgeous April weather, right on time…
A killing frost is possibleTuesday/Wednesday.
MIght have to have a word with Pancratius and Servatius…
Gardening in this part of Switzerland is an exercise in perennial heartbreak.
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My current garden seems quite immune from hard frosts.
I can grow things which survive the winter here which were impossible in my last garden.
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Forecast on La Côte for Tue/Wed is 7°/14° 5°/18°.
Just looked out the window… It’s now hailing.
#$@%!
I’m all sorts of jealous…
To compound weather uncertainty here, the (affordable) garden centers out this way are largely bought out by first week of May. If I waited until after the Eisheiligen to buy my seedlings, I’d be out of luck for the season. So one more or less has to start early, then pray to the Weather Gods.
I dream of building a proper greenhouse… but praying to the Permit Gods has proven ineffective.
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I have the Belle of Barmera dahlias in giant pots in the downstairs kitchen, where it’s about 17-18C. They are now 6" tall…good I didn’t try putting them in the ground!
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We have 6/13 and 5/16 forecast for here so not very different.
We’ve got: Expect snow around 19:00 !
Should have kept the winter tyres on the bicycle…
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And raining again. Wind’s got up a bit as well.
Woke up to snow this morning.
Last night’s hail stripped the blossoms off the fruit trees and the blueberry bushes. So is Pancratius the patron saint of blossoms, or the curse?
Can’t even bear to go out and assess damage to the rest of the garden.
Well… at least at Landi prices I can replace the annuals without too much pain. That is, if I can find the plants I want this late in the year.
I guess I’ll take comfort in the mantra of my Swiss neighbors: ‘There’s always next year…’
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My tarragon plant seemed to like 3C, but tonight will be 2C, so I brought bags of straw (which Kordes, my rose breeder, sends with each potted starter plant) up from the cellar and will cover the tender ones this p.m. I’ll also cover the pots on the terrace with bubble wrap. We had lots of rain and sleet this morning, now sunny. This bad weather has been extended to next Tuesday, so Kalte Sophie and the rest of the gang lived up to their names.
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