After a mild March, April was a little more seasonal however we were able to dodge any April snow.  This allowed us to start our cleanups on time this year and maintain a pretty good schedule. 

Conditions over the past month of May were dominated by dramatic temperature fluctuations and high winds.  May brought periods of cool, frosty weather with nights one week dropping well into the twenties.  This wreaked havoc on a lot of tender new foliage on shrubs and trees.  Signs of this are still hanging from some shrubs and trees in the form of dead brown foliage and needles.  This shouldn't leave any lasting damage this time of year as most will grow new foliage to replace what the cold killed. 

Not long after that very cold week we experienced a period of very sunny, hot, dry weather with temperatures well into the nineties.  Our soils had ample moisture through April and part of May but it didn't take long for this to leave soil moisture very low with wilting of established perennials and summer-like dry areas on lawns that are without irrigation systems. 

Allergy sufferers are going through a tough period as well.  Clouds of yellow pollen are floating around as even the slightest breeze sends the pollen from White Pines into the air.  And if we weren't looking at clouds of pollen we were experiencing a haze of actual smoke through the Memorial Day weekend from the huge forest fire in Canada.  It smelled like there was a campfire wherever you went.

As usual it's like someone throws a switch on, sending us from winter-like conditions into mid-summer-like weather.  It's unique to this part of the country and keeps those of us in the green industry on our toes.