Climate comparisons

Just saw this little map online and thought it was worth sharing. It's a map of Australia that has been divided into the climate zones of other regions around the world, just for comparison. 

The matches aren't perfect, as the little notes panel mentions. For example, rainfall amounts may differ, but the comparisons are handy for readers internationally who understandably might struggle with figuring out if their own garden's climate is similar to that of the Aussie blogger they sometimes read.

Here at Garden Amateur in Sydney, we're comparable to Argentina — hola Buenos Aires! — while up in Brisbane it's more like Sao Paulo. Melbourne is Fremont, Perth is Los Angeles, Darwin is Mumbai ... etc. 

The extra map below is of little Tasmania, which is not to the same scale as the map of Australia. This always happens to Tassie. It gets its own separate panel (much like Hawaii and Alaska do in maps of the USA). It's a very pleasant climate down in Tassie. The winters can be chilly but they do have the loveliest summers, especially on the east coast, which is comparable to Southern Chile.

Times a' changing

Should we ever misplace all our calendars, gardeners would always have a very good idea of what day it is simply by looking at what's happening out in their patch. Like this morning, when I wandered outside to discover that it's June right now! Surely. The first of the orchids are open, so it's the first half of June. They always open then. Alas, we're having a weirdo of a year as far as timings go, and things aren't happening when they should. (The fact it's also warm and sunny this morning should have been the big hint that it isn't really June, Jamie.)

Poor old regular readers of my blog. Every June I post a photo
of these cymbidium orchids, as a ceremony to mark the times.
Yet this year this orchid started blooming last week in fact, almost
a full month ahead of schedule.

Much better at time-keeping this year, our street
tree, a pink-flowering gum, Eucalyptus
leucoxylon var. 'Rosea' started its cool season
blooming right on schedule, in early April.
If all goes according to normal patterns (and
that's a big assumption) it should still be in
bloom, feeding the raucous lorikeets, wattlebirds
and clever little New Holland honeyeaters
in mid-September. What a tree!

Lots of other plants are having a weird year here. The frangipani, which should be dropping leaves now, is still full of leaf with a few flowers soldiering on. And the zygocactus (Schlumbergera), which always bursts into bloom in early May, is only now sending out its flower buds, and they'll be lucky to bloom before June arrives.

Of course, the answer to all this weirdness is the weather, as it always is. Summer saw all-time record high temperatures, while this May has been virtually devoid of rain, and we've also got close to Sydney's record for the number of consecutive days with temperatures above 20°C (68°F) for May, our last month of autumn here.

Not complaining, mind you. Wouldn't dare. Just observing!