Showing posts with label October. Show all posts
Showing posts with label October. Show all posts

Friday, November 14, 2014

October in Seattle

A mid-century house.

A 1920s house with 2000s townhouses across the alley.

The former Colman School, now the Northwest African American Museum & Urban League Village Apartments.  This building was built in 1909 & is typical of Seattle schools built during that population boom.  Most have been replaced with modern structures.  This empty, historically black school was occupied by a group of 40 activists in 1985, who demanded the museum.  It was a long time coming.  The museum opened on the ground floor in 2008.  The apartments above offer affordable housing to people of any race.  The lawn in front of the building is Jimi Hendrix Park, which should be landscaped sooner or later.  A plan exists.  Jimi Hendrix was born & raised in Seattle, not far from here. 

Blue Dog Pond dog park.

A 1910s house with 2000s townhouses next door.  These photos were taken in October 2014 in the north Rainier Valley, in a part of the Atlantic neighborhood just south of Interstate 90.  It is a transitional area with vacant lots, older homes & newer townhouses built during the housing bubble that burst in 2008.  Plans for more townhouses now exist, with one project under construction.

October 2014 in Seattle was much warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 58F/14.4C.  Normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.75 inches/172mm.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches/88mm.  The highest temperature was 78F/25.6C on 10/6.  The lowest was 44F/6.7C on 10/26.  Highs were mostly in the 60s & lows were mostly in the 50s.  There were 5 days with heavy rain, 10 days with rain, 22 days with light rain, 20 days with fog (6 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 20 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 2 fair days.  Except for the first 7 days, it was a dark & rainy month. 

Friday, November 9, 2012

October Garden Pictures

Aster novae-angliae 'Hella Lacy' October 2012

 
Crocus kotschyanus October 2012

Quercus gambelii October 2012

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth' October 2012

Zauschneria latifolia October 2012

October 2012 in Seattle was warmer & much wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 53.8F/12.1C.  The normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.71 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches.  The highest temperature was 75F/23.9C, the lowest 38F/3.3C.  There were 3 days with heavy rain, 14 days with rain, 16 days with light rain, 18 days with fog, 19 cloudy days, 5 partly cloudy days & 7 fair days.  The weather changed abruptly with 0.19 inches of rain on October 13 & more than 1 inch of rain over a 3 day period.  There had been no significant rainfall since July 20, a freakish period of 84 dry & mostly sunny days.  Suddenly, very wet fall weather began & continued throughout the month.

This will be the last regular posting of pictures from the Cascadia Garden.  In November, I will start posting urban landscape photos from various places in Seattle.  After 4 years, photos from my garden have become repetitive. Also, I plan to leave this property within the next 6 months.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Volunteer Park Conservatory in October

Coleus at the Volunteer Park Conservatory October 2012

Chrysanthemum at the Volunteer Park Conservatory October 2012

Plectranthus at the Volunteer Park Conservatory October 2012

 
Hibiscus at the Volunteer Park Conservatory October 2012

Hechtia glomerata at the Volunteer Park Conservatory October 2012

Click here for more photos of Volunteer Park.

The Volunteer Park Conservatory is a welcome respite from the cold Seattle rain.  I can also say that it has the finest planting design of any conservatory I have seen worldwide. It is open except on Mondays, even on holidays, from 10 to 4. 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 interesting.  The seasonal displays are changed 6 times each year.  Plants are often replaced in all of the houses. I think Volunteer Park is the greatest park in Seattle.  Not only is the park beautiful, but it has a number of first-rate attractions including the conservatory, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Isamu Noguchi's Black Sun & the panoramic view from the Water Tower.  The park is easily reached from Downtown Seattle by the 10 Capitol Hill bus, which stops at the park.

Friday, November 11, 2011

October Garden Pictures & Bloom Times

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi October 2011

Crocosmia 'Emberglow' October 2011

Mahonia pinnata 'Ken Hartman' October 2011

Pinus kwangtungensis October 2011

 Zauschneria californica October 2011

Below is a short list of plants that began to bloom in my garden in Seattle in October 2011. I recorded the date when the 1st flower opened, not when they were in bud. I think this information is helpful in planning your garden. But I have decided to stop keeping track of this in the future.  It is too difficult for me to be so vigilant.  You can refer to past bloom times posts for 4 years this information. October 2011 was somewhat cooler & very slightly drier than normal.  The average monthly maximum temperature was 58F/14.4C.  The normal average monthly maximum temperature is 59.7F/15.4C.  The highest temperature was 67F/19.4C, the lowest 37F/2.7C.  We had 3.45 inches of rain, 0.03 less than normal.  It rained on 17 days.  There were 20 cloudy days, 10 partly cloudy days & 1 clear day.

10-08-11 Crocus kotschyanus 9-27-10, 10-05-08
10-18-11 Hirpicium armerioides 8-03-10
10-18-11 Mahonia gracilipes 9-14-10