View Comments
The Maritime Northwest is famous for weather swings, typically caused by the El Niño/La Niña cycles. Long-range weather predictors tend to hedge their bets for our area, and after nearly five decades here, I totally get it. Will this summer be hotter or cooler, wetter or drier? Or possibly some of each? Some of each seems most likely, and though that won’t upset most of our ornamental plants, vacillating temperatures can cause problems for annuals, including many edibles.
Ornamental trees, shrubs, and perennials can usually cope with wavering weather because they are long-lived plants. Once their root systems are well established, they can delve deep, tapping into soil-bound stores of water and nutrients. In contrast, most of our favorite veggies are annuals, which pack a lifetime of growing into a few months.