Where Has All the Summer Gone? by KCB

KCB is a professional gardener and friend who does wonderful work in the Greater Portland area. KCB is also an accredited Master Gardener by the Cooperative Extension Service and we are proud to tell you that KCB will always be on record as the 2008 Maine Master Gardener of the Year. And we are honored to have KCB as part of our Skillin's Garden Log family.

To New Englanders, perhaps most of the contiguous United States, the season of summer is not celebrated by the calendar but by the 2 holidays that serve as book-ends to the 3 months we call ‘summer’.

Memorial Day, many say is the summer kick-off and Labor Day escorts the season out. The summer of 2009 seemed non-existent to gardeners, vacationers and others who count on the sunshine of summer for recreation or economic stimulus.

With one of the wettest summers on record, southern Maine did achieve one record, the coldest. Southern Maine stretched to achieve this July’s average temperature of 74 degrees while the norm is 78.8.

August saw the Portland area reaching another record, the record high on 8/17 of 90 degrees. Early morning risers on the 28th of this same month were greeted with a colder than normal 49 degrees. September was ushered in with early frost alerts. It’s not even Labor Day and we’re covering our very stressed tomatoes? Looking back, summer in Maine seemed shorter than ever.

Guess again.

Summer of 2009 will go on record as one of the longest. You see, since we observe Memorial Day the last Monday in May, this year’s date of May 25th offered us the earliest possible date to ring in the unofficial summer season. Labor Day, being the first Monday in September, gave us the latest possible Labor Day. 107 days of summer! A gift of 9 days longer than 2008 and what we can look forward to in 2010.

Now don’t you feel better. An extra week of summer is like an extra week of vacation.

Having said all this, I’m still counting the days. According to the calendar, the Autumnal Equinox transpires at 5:18 PM EDT on the 22nd of September. That gives me 14 more days. With the extra week and 2 to go, I have 3 more weeks of summer than ever?!?!

With this type of logic and calculations it is a good thing I’m a landscaper and not an accountant.

Where has all the summer gone? Gone to flowers, every one………

KCB for Skillin's Greenhouses
September 9, 2009