Date: 02/27/2011

Number: 1

Here is my first report from central Mexico. We had a fairly hard winter for plants. There has been no precipitation since the beginning of October. We have had sub-zero weather in the morning since the last weeks of October. Temperatures reached -8 C at least 6 times this year making it the coldest winter I can remember in the 11 years I have lived here. Just two weeks ago we had three days that the temperature was at -2C in the morning at 7:00AM. The temperatures have been above 26 C in the afternoon since the beginning of January. We have had temperature swings of as much as 32 degrees C in one day, but the average variation has been about 28 degrees.

All the milkweed plants were hit by the frosts. I have several plants that were under shelter and are blooming. The plants in the garden are just starting to develop leaves at the base of the stems. I have not seen any new plants coming up from seed yet.

We lost many plants this year as the first frosts arrived earlier than expected. Bougainvillea that was not covered had to be cut all the way back. We still don't know if it survived. We lost about 10 young trees, (avocado, mandarin, lime, lemon, jacaranda and some young pines). Many succulent plants died also this year. the good news is that we planted a magnolia tree and it survived beautifully! It is only one meter tall and its first fragrant flower has just opened.

Nectar sources are available for butterflies. Apple, peach and plum trees are in full bloom. Since the afternoons have been fairly warm all winter, there are actually a few small apples on the trees already. The organ cacti are full of flowers and hummingbirds are already arriving to feed on them early in the morning.

Plants that are starting to emerge are Mexican hat, sweet alyssum and plumbago.

We haven`t seen any monarchs yet, but they could be coming by any day now. There are two native plants that are usually in bloom in both the spring and the fall when they migrate. Both of these plants can be seen in abundance around the roads, especially close to cultivated fields where there is ample water from irrigation available.

Tequisquiapan, QUE

Latitude: 20.5 Longitude: -99.9

Observed by: Naomi
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