Oregon City, frost several times already. Temp down to at least 31 degrees several times. Water in bird baths frozen a few mornings. A lot of leaves falling now. Peony leaves turned black and slimy, but hydrangeas are still fluffy and blooming. One rhododendron and 2 camellias are blooming like crazy, very odd. The conifers are putting on visible luxuriant growth.

Finally having a good rain today. It's been dry with just light misting until today.

The 6 red horse chestnuts are making enormous buds for next spring, as are most of the deciduous trees. Have a young sugar maple that isn't doing well, and a young blue atlas cedar that seems to be getting too much water, needles are turning dusky brown, but have 2 others bigger ones that are thriving. The 2 river birches and red October Glory maples we plunked in the creeklets last spring are handling standing water well.

Some older honeysuckle vines seem to be dying, don't know why, but new ones are flourishing. Lots of birds but a coopers and sharp-shinned hawk keep them at bay at times.

Lots of leaves to get up and put in the compost pile when things dry out. Lots of pruning in January when trees are really dormant (but who knows when exactly will be the best time). Going to be taking off a lot of willow suckers that are starting to crowd out conifers in the summer.

Miss the leaves! Someday though the conifers will be so huge it will be OK :-)

Hoping lots of baby eucalyptus survive this first winter's freezing spells.

West Olympia. No frost yet. I think my low temp so far has been only 35 degrees.

Here in Poulsbo we've had 3 dips down to about 30 degrees.... two earlier this week and one a couple weeks ago. No frost yet at the new place near Sequim though.

There was frost on the rooftops here in Shoreline a day or two ago, but nothing significant. No scraping of windshields required yet and my Salvia elegans and various pelargoniums are still unblemished. And none yet at the nursery, either.

All in all, I think we've had some pretty decent weather so far this November. It's been a lot drier and warmer than typical and on some days, even rather balmy. A BIG improvement over last year :-))

After this weekend, the forecast for the coming week looks pretty darn good, although with the clearness they predict and chilly nighttime temperatures, we could see some frost then.

SE Portland in between Mall 205 and Gresham. No frost here. My water lettuce is still doing just great in the pond. It disintegrates at the first frost.

Yes, this November has been pretty quiet - it is nice.

I've just come up with a grand idea. I have started writing down everything I can remember about the past winters, when various freezes occurred, and the like - so I don't get them all mixed up later when I am trying to figure out when certain things happened. It would make a handy reference for the kind of discussion I tend to get into.

ian_wa, that's a great idea.

I have to admit that I never remember when first frosts happen, or when the garden really starts to decline, so I think I should start keeping a written record, too. Maybe even a photographic one. I just found pictures of the garden from March and BLEARGH. I didn't realize how long it take the garden to come out in the spring. In March, it looks like, well... YECK! It looks like yeck.

Ian, I keep a simple calendar to record weather, first sightings of swallows, etc. I have never put in first freeze though. I also have a rain gauge so I put in how much rain I dump and at the end of the year it is an interesting record. I actually keep this one in my bedroom so it seems quite accessible and easy to keep up.

No frost yet in Lake Oswego that I have seen. In fact, some of the spring bulbs are starting to sprout some foliage.

Well, we had a real frost here in Portland... sigh. The lawn was white when I woke up for the first time since last spring, and I had to scrape my car. Strangely, however, my foofy annual geranium doesn't look fried yet. Is it too late to dig it up and bring it in?

Happy Thanksgiving! Birdbaths are frozen, white frosty blanket over everything. Hungry birds! But it looks like the sun will come out today. Yesterday's afternoon even in the wane sun had a chill. A foreshadow of winter is evident today.

Well, we got it last night. Had to scrape the windshield and my begonias are drooping. Must go out and pick the kiwis.

Us too, first frost finally today. Not a killer frost though. The dahlias are still standing - leaves burned, but not the stems. I cut the last few flowers. 31 degrees at my house this morning. But, went hiking at Summit Lake mid day and they had a nice hard freeze up there, roads still frosty and icy at noon, puddles frozen over, found a few chanterelles, they had definitely been frozen overnight. Drive carefully everyone!

I pulled the water lettuce out on Sunday but it still looked perfect. I did notice ice in some of the smaller ponds yesterday morning.

Winter is here on S Vancouver Island!. Frosty, freezing and snow yesterday, more to come tomorrow, so they say. I had to go hunt up the snow shovel.