Showing posts with label December. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December. Show all posts

Friday, January 10, 2014

December in Seattle

University Way NE, also known as The Ave.

NE 45th Street at the corner of University Way NE, the busiest intersection on The Ave.  Hotel Deca appears at the upper left.

Women spray-painting a wreath of twigs in an alley off NW 45th Street.

The bus stop on Campus Parkway NE.  The buildings shown here are student housing for the University of Washington.

An academic building on the University of Washington campus.

December in Seattle was colder & much drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 39.7F/4.27C.  The normal mean temperature is 40.6F/4.78C.  Total precipitation was 1.66 inches/42.16mm.  Normal precipitation is 5.35 inches/135.89mm.  The highest temperature was 56F/13.3C on 12/1.  The lowest was 19F/-7.22C on 12/7.  There was 1 day with rain, 15 days with light rain, 2 days with light snow, 20 days with fog (10 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 3 days with haze, 17 cloudy days, 11 partly cloudy days & 3 fair days.  There were 5 very cold nights from 12/5 through 12/9, with low temperatures between 19F/-7.22C & 24F/-4.44C degrees.  We were very cold in bed those nights & slept under every wool blanket we had.  We were pleased to see 1.1 inches/27.94mm of snow on the morning of 12/21 & just as pleased to see it melt within a few hours. 

The photos above were taken on 12-7-13 in the University District.  This area was annexed to Seattle in 1893 while it was still mostly clear-cut forest.  It grew with the University of Washington.  Founded in 1861, the UW (u-DUB) is one of the oldest universities on the west coast & has one of the best medical schools in the world.  The university relocated from downtown to this campus in 1895.  In 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition was held on the campus grounds & its plan became part of the campus master plan.  Although this is a vibrant neighborhood, there has been a recent push for redevelopment as an 'innovation zone' with buildings as high as 340 feet.  Light rail is scheduled to reach the U District in 2021.

Friday, January 11, 2013

December in Seattle

Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) on Capitol Hill December 2012

Rosa rugosa in Columbia City December 2012

 
Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) at Franklin High School December 2012

South Seattle Community College Arboretum December 2012

Viburnum x bodnantense at York Park December 2012

December 2012 in Seattle was warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 41.5F/5.27C.  The normal mean temperature is 40.6F/4.77C.  The highest temperature was 56F/13.33C, the lowest 29F/-1.66C.  Total precipitation was 6.85 inches.  Normal precipitation is 5.35 inches.  Snowfall was 0.6 inches.  Normal snowfall is 1.7 inches.  There was 1 day with heavy rain, 11 days with rain, 27 days with light rain, 2 days with snow, 2 days with light snow, 25 days with fog, 2 days with haze, 27 cloudy days, 4 partly cloudy days & no fair days.  I did very little work in the garden because of the continuous wetness.

Friday, January 13, 2012

December Garden Pictures

Euphorbia nicaeensis December 2011

Hebe x pimeloides December 2011

Hypericum 'Hidcote' December 2011 This thing blooms forever!

Sorbus forrestii December 2011

Tanacetum parthenium December 2011

December 2011 was cooler & much drier than usual. The mean temperature was 39.2F/4C, 1.4 degrees lower than normal. The highest temperature was 53F/11.6C, the lowest 26F/-3.3C.  2.24 inches of rain accumulated, 3.1 less than normal. There were 18 cloudy days, 13 partly cloudy days, 0 fair days, 18 days with rain, 24 days with fog & 3 days with haze.  The 13 partly cloudy days were unusually sunny for December.  Fog was mostly gone by noon.  On December 10 there was a lunar eclipse starting around 5:00 AM. It was a beautiful month.




Lunar eclipse December 10, 2011 at approximately 5:00 to 6:00 AM

Friday, January 7, 2011

December Garden Pictures & Bloom Times

Collards December 2010

Corylus avellana 'Contorta' December 2010

Crows, clouds, Cascades December 2010

Helleborus argutifolius December 2010

Pieris japonica 'Variegata' December 2010

Very little began to bloom in my garden in December.  I included dates from previous years.  If you have plants that bloom in December in Seattle, please let me know.  December was wetter & warmer than usual, although the last few days were below freezing at night with frost on the ground throughout the day.  Leaf & flower buds began to form on many plants.  New shoots of Helleborus x hybridus grew to 3 inches.  Flower buds of Helleborus argutifolius & Helleborus x sternii were the size of my thumb.  Flower buds of Magnolia stellata were fuzzy gray olives.  Sedum 'Matrona', 'Brilliant' & 'Autumn Joy' were delicate, gray rosettes densely clustered on the ground.  Hemerocallis foliage emerged.  Still-very-solid catkins of Corylus avellana 'Contorta' began to droop from twisted branches.  

December Bloom Times
12-22-10  Erica x darleyensis 'Mary Ellen' 1-18-10, 12-05-08
12-27-10  Cyclamen coum 1-06-10, 12-05-08, 1-01-08
12-28-10  Primula x juliana ‘Wanda’ 1-28-10, 2-14-09

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Volunteer Park Conservatory

Seasonal Display House

Cactus House

Fern House

Bromeliad House

Palm House

Entrance

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is a welcome respite from the cold Seattle rain. It is open except on Mondays, even on holidays, from 10 to 4. Decorated for the holidays in early December, it is a charming place for a quiet stroll on Christmas or New Year's Day, unless those holidays fall on a Monday. The conservatory has 5 houses, each quite different. There are bromeliad, palm, fern, seasonal display & cactus houses. It is hard to say which is most lovely.