[ddsack]

I am always amazed by the power of those warm ocean currents. You look at the globe and see that Britain with their enviable gardening heritage, is on the same lattitude as the Hudson Bay area which I think of as the near arctic wastes. And Seattle, which is pretty close to my exact latitude has much milder weather and longer growing season than me.

The problem (or benefit?) of living in the center of a continent is that we have more temperature extremes than either coasts which are moderated by ocean currents. So we can have summer heat waves into the 90'sF/33C and winter lows below zero to -35F/ -37C or lower. We have a short late spring and earlier fall than the coasts, but can often make up for it by more clear hot sunny days in the summer which make for good growing weather. In my location, most years, summer tends to be too dry, rather than too wet. Last year was a bit cooler than I've gotten used to for the last 15 years or so, so I selfishly hope the global warming/el nino or whatever trend has raised our summer temps will return this year, solely for the benefit of my tomatoes and peppers!