Record Heat

The scorching March heat that has spread across the west for a week is record breaking, bringing 100 degree plus heat to Arizona - way too hot way too early in the year.

Here it has been pleasant, in the 70s and up into the 80s in the afternoons. Also record breaking for March. Nice, but also too hot far too early. 

The aspens are still leafless, the Virginia creeper vine is still an ugly brown, and sitting outside to enjoy the nice air is unsettling if you look at the garden.

Unlike some of the bare trees, the crabapple is leafing out, well before any flowers. It has bloomed some years and others not very much, but the flowers come out before the leaves, usually in late April. 

This is still March.

Other things in the ground are greening up and it's too early for them.

The extreme heat will break, but who knows if we'll fall back to more normal temperatures in April and May, when historically we've had nights below freezing and cold days at times. Sometimes even snow.

In fact, here are two posts from last year documenting snow and cold in April.

April 5 last year

Mid April last year.

I do wonder what the rest of spring will bring! I can't manage any garden maintenance this year, but I do get the scooter out on the upper patio to sit in the warm sun at times.