Don't you think? I was just in Rhode Island - where it's totally beautiful - the gardens are amazing, and I realized that it's easier to have a gorgeous garden with good hardscaping. The stone walls, victorian houses, beaches, etc. make a great background.

Anyway, fall color is alive there, and I began pontificating the nature of the 4 seasons - cycles, dormancy, the holiday season!, snow, cherry blossoms, etc.

I remembered once when DD was about 3 or 4, we were in a Cracker Barrel in South Carolina in December, and she asked a sales lady how they celebrate Christmas when it doesnt' even get cold there.

I thought it was sad for DH that he had no snow growing up in Florida. No red, yellow, and orange leaves, no bundling up in hats and scarves to grandmas for holiday dinner. I just love the cold, and besides it's beauty in and of itself, I think it makes me appreciate spring and how amazing it is when plants begin to awaken, flowers come out of nowhere, etc.

Then I thought about some of you gardeners from great zones (like Jenniferch! ), who can grow artichokes when we can't over here. and was jealous for a bit. Then i wondered: do you think it's "right" that you don't have "4 seasons"? I mean, I'd love to wear flip flops year round - and I've heard pedicures are only $5 in LA, but don't you want to wear UGG boots every now and then? Do you ever think about cleaning up the garden for winter and starting from scratch in the early spring? You know, sitting by the fire on a cold winter's day reading a catalog and picking out seeds for when the ground thaws?

Now, you know I'm a total novice here, so I may not be understanding how the "seasons" work in climates where you have one long season.

I surely don't mean any offense - I hope no one takes it that way. Just wondered what you thought...

I think half the population of the south-east is making up for their lack of seasons this weekend by driving through our town. On our local highways this weekend only about every fifth car is from New Hampshire.

Some friends of ours moved from New Hampshire to Thousand Oaks, CA about 20 years ago. They send a family Christmas letter every year. On about the fourth or fifth year of living in Thousand Oaks, they wrote "just another boring 72-degree day in sunny California. We went to the beach this morning. Now we're at home putting up the decorations and writing this letter."

I never forgot that letter, and though I am in California several times a year and enjoy every trip, I am very happy to come home to New Hampshire, four seasons, firewood, snow, spring gardens, not-too-humid summers (compared to say, Houston), and gorgeous Autumns.

I guess I'd really miss seasons - especially Autumn. It seems exceptionally beautiful this year. Oh, I know why... it's not raining.

We usually have 4 seasons. Over the Ohio River and through the woods to Grandmother's house we would go sometimes.

We have the same horrible humidity here that they have in the south. The Ohio River and other large rivers/streams and lakes create their own atmosphere around here.

We have 4 seasons unless there are years where we have only 2 seasons... Summer and Winter.. Very little in between. But we have the colors of spring and fall. I have to admit... I wouidn't want to do without the color changes.

We do have seasons, they're just more subtle. This past week the flannel sheets went on the bed, we close the windows at night, and I'm wearing shoes and socks instead of sandals. And so forth. The nights are cool--in the low 50's--and it's low 70's during the day. The deciduous trees and vines are losing their leaves. Next week we'll have to use the furnace in the mornings. I wear a sweater or coat at night if we go out. Soon the rains will come, and it can rain for a week at a time.

I remember the snow from my Philadelphia childhood. It was fun to play in, but I did get so very cold. And as an adult I sure wouldn't want to have to drive in snow.

Our spring is glorious. It starts in February with evergreen pear trees, bulbs and annuals, when it's still quite cool. Early April is when so many flowers bloom, all over the city. The Victorian box and jasmine perfume whole neighborhoods. And in May the jacarandas are clouds of lavender everywhere.

Frankly I'd go nuts if I couldn't garden year round.

Being a "d@mn yankee", aka a northern transplant that came down and stayed I definitely knew 4 distinct seasons growing up in Michigan. We also have 4 seasons in Mississippi, but as jen said, the differences can be more subtle.

If the weather is right, we can get some lovely fall foliage, more subtle and not as spectacular as up north, in part due to numerous evergreens, but enjoyable nontheless. If it's not a foliage year, we also have lovely wildflowers that bloom in bursts of vivid yellow, pink, white, red, and purple in October. Sometimes we have a hot fall, and sometimes cooler and crisp. We can turn off the AC and enjoy cool temps for free. We start wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants again. I may even wear socks with my Birks. And bonfire season is here, whether it's huge bonfires on the beach, or Friday night campfire cookouts in our backyard with the kids and friends.

When my kids were little & we first moved to Ocean Springs, it was hard for me to get used to Christmases that were snowless and warm (some years wearing shorts & flip-flops to holiday gatherings). But it was also a help in that I didn't feel home- and heartsick that I was missing my large extended family Christmas get-togethers in Michigan. And an early Christmas morning in heavy fog on the beach has its own peace and charm. Sometimes we get lots of rain, but when it clears we get beautiful clear 40ºF winter days with an incredible blue blue sky. Winter rye lawns are a vivid green, camelias are blooming from late October through February, and the live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, the tall pine and magnolia keep things lush.

Our spring (February onward) is nonstop bloom. Huge hedges of azaleas in carmine pink, scarlet, snowy white, formosa purple: http://home.att.net/~SpanishMoss/azaleas.html
Not my site, but it gives you an idea. Also the dogwoods, flowering pears, wisteria, grancy greybeard, spirea, tung trees, mountain laurel, and other stunning flowering trees and bushes adorn the countryside.

And summer. We definitely have summer. With a vengeance. And I guess we have a fifth season - hurricane season.

I may miss freshly pressed cider, beautiful snowfalls, and hoarfrost, but I love having year-round flowers and greenery. Sometimes I want a break from gardening, but it's nice to have fresh herbs and veggies (of some sort) in the garden year-round.

I don't miss driving on snow and ice, weeks of unbroken low grey cloudy skies, mountains of slushy semi-melted dirty snow in parking lots, frozen fingers and toes, slipping and hurting myself on icy paths, and sloppy deep mucky mud in spring.

They say we have 4 seasons here:

Almost winter
Winter
Still winter
Road construction

We have 4 seasons here on the East Side of my state. When I lived on the West Side we only had two, warm and wet or cold and wet.

Now we get winter down to around 5° and snow on the ground, spring in the 50’s, summer close to 100° and everything growing like mad and fall with all the wonderful colors. I love it here.

Liz - ha, ha, ha, ha!!!

GT, I'm fifth generation California farming, and you couldn't drag me kicking and screaming away from this state. I hope this won't be taken as a brag, but since you asked here's why I love living where the weather is agreeable 330 days of the year.

Like Jennifer said, the seasonal differences are subtle, but the spring, summer and fall are so comfortable that I still can't get enough of them. No humidity, no rain for 8 months, not too much heat, not many bugs.

We do have snow, it's just about a 4-hour drive towards Nevada, and a lot of people go there, visit, and then come back to where their house is sitting without fear of frozen pipes, quite low heating bills. I have a wood stove that heats 1300 square feet and I spend about $80 for 6 months on wood. Beaches that are almost always comfortable to sit on, even if the fog is in, it's dramatic and a cozy jacket is fine.

No driveway shoveling, the streets are always clean, no dirty black snow, no salt on the roads to torture your vehicle or run off into your property. Maybe three gray days in January will go by, and the sun will burst out. Winter is never a solemn, depressing season. In February the red-winged blackbirds show up and the daffodils start to bloom, and any sense that it's too chilly or gray starts to fade.

Outdoor events almost always take place as planned in sun or partial sun. Lots of holiday evening events, and outdoor parades. The red pointsettias grow as high as the house, and bloom red at Christmas. We've got plenty of fall leaves, maybe not whole forests for miles, but the forests are dotted with colorful leaves, cities are full of plantings that turn color. Annuals bloom all year, just change them out and nothing to worry about.

It's a lot easier to be a wedding planner here!

As far as gardening, it's like cheating. I read what you all are saying about your winters and your plants, and I have never experienced any of that. Once every 5 years there may be a bit more frost that requires some protection for a few days. No snow loads on the greenhouse roof to worry about. Starting seeds in January is easy to do. Passive solar heat keeps everything at about 60 degrees. There's at least an 8 month growing season of spring/summer veggies, and lettuce, spinach, winter vegetables overflow in December and January.

But winter cold does not kill bugs here, or leaf diseases, so we have to compensate for that. We use irrigation and drip systems because there's no rain. The growing season never really stops, so it's a lot more work.

There's just not a lot of weather-related work or maintenance on houses and cars. It's only the occasional wind storm that causes concern in the winter. Much less to worry about (well, except for earthquakes, but it's kind of like living on a boat, batten down the hatches!)

I never even knew what warm socks were until I visited Canada! And I have always admired Canadians for their ability to walk across a slick patch of ice like it's no different from any other surface, while I am down on my keister in 2 seconds flat!!

I think whatever we grew up with and have fond memories of is what makes us feel all warm inside. While you might miss snow at Christmas, I would miss a bright, cool, sunny day and playing croquet outside on the lawn and flying kites. And you might want to bundle up on Thanksgiving, but I would miss the outdoor dinner by the lake with a BBQ'd turkey.

And, of course, those of you who drive out on frozen lakes, well, I am not worthy!!!!

Greenish Thumb,

It sounds like everywhere is wonderful to live, by the sound of it. I love everyone's descriptions of their state.

I like 4 seasons and look forward to each one. Hate each one for something or another. Love each season for one thing or another. HaHa

But I won't leave Maryland. Beach three hours to the east. Mountains three hours to the west. And I'm stuck in the middle with you. HaHa

lisaann

had to 'chuckle' lisaan about the 3 hours thing...
in 5 hours+20minutes I can be at Alta,Utah

Sorry, but I have yet to find a 'snow' lover
on this board. No one else seems to play in the snow or to hike in the mountains when it is not garden season.

Actually, I loved snow as a child, and still love it as an adult. I like playing in it, I love watching it fall, I love the serene look of freshly fallen snow, I love the silence of a heavy snowfall when sensible people stay home. I also love hoarfrost which is the most magical looking weather phenomenon I can think of shy of northern lights.

Now that I am older, I just prefer it in metered doses, and prefer not to have to drive in it. And it's not really the driving, it is the idiots that seem to revel being out driving recklessly and follow right behind you instead of leaving a 7- to 10-second following distance like somebody who actually thinks might.

I also seem to be tolerating the cold less well than I did when I was younger.

quote:

Originally posted by franeli:

Sorry, but I have yet to find a 'snow' lover
on this board. No one else seems to play in the snow or to hike in the mountains when it is not garden season.

Snow lover? That's me! Remember, I chose to live here in the mountains. My first winter here, we had over 11 feet of snow alone in March alone. My snow shoes got a lot of miles put on them that year.

Wayne

Hi franelli,

I can play in the snow and build snowmen and stuff, But when it comes to snowboarding, skiing, forget it. My hubby and I stopped a T-Bar ski lift dead in Germany. Long Story and I have not been on skis since. hA hA

gREENISH tHUMB LIVES IN mARYLAND TOO. dON'T KNOW WHY SHE HASN'T PUT THAT ON HER BOTTOM LINE YET. wE ARE BOTH STUCK IN THE MIDDLE.
Oh good, caps are gone.

The snow in winter is about an hour and a half drive away in the mountains, but I haven't done that in decades. The beach is about 1/2 hour from my house, the desert a couple of hours. It is true that most outdoor events will take place as planned between April and October. But you have heard me complain about the lack of rain that entails!

how ideal to be in mild weather with the snow and mountains only 1.5 hours away!!

I am also a snow lover. In fact, DD's name is Winter.

Sweetpea, you make a really good point about how we enjoy the environment we grew up in most.