The weather is indeed a worry for me, too, Melissa. Luckily, our area doesn't have pollution problems ,and even the closest city-Prato-supposedly has "discreet" air quality. But sadly,in recent years, all too often, we have had these "faux winters".

This year, in November, we had lots of rain,which I realize in some areas of Italy caused great damage,and I believe lives were lost as well,so even that was by no means a blessing for all-though for me and my garden it was a great relief. Italy desperately needs those autumn rains-the ones brought in from the Atlantic ocean. Though it does make for gloomy weather,it is necessary to have those long periods of almost constant rain,and I was exceedlingly grateful that we had it this year-last year this did not happen. But this year,in some areas, it was not only constant but too copious,so I realize even that was problematical.And now we have this huge high-pressure system from the Azzores,all over much of Europe, causing this all-too-stable weather. Once upon a time, it was this Azzorean high-pressure-system that would come in during the summer, and caused the dry ,relatively pleasent heat of the old-fashioned Italian summer. But in recent years,Italy's summers have been characterized by the horrendous high-pressure systems coming from Africa,which cause the weather to be unbearable,and these tend to last longer and longer. Some years ago I read that Italy was to be hit very badly by Global Warming,and sadly this prediction seems to have come true. Any more I can't even exactly look forward to blessed Spring,because I am so fearful of the heat and drought.

Hello, bart! I'm glad you wrote in.

The weather worries me, too, though so far the garden can handle it...I'm not so sure about the humans, or anything living if conditions continue to worsen, which probably they will.

I've had dealing with summer drought on my mind since the nineties, when I lived in western Washington state in the U.S. and its semi-Mediterranean climate. I began to understand how drought resilient some plants are, and when I moved to Italy and started growing things, part of my project was to create a garden that would require a minimum of intervention and outside input, of irrigation, soil amendments, pest treatment, for example. Our method of growing plants "hard", especially watering the first year only, was justified by the outcome of the long drought year fall 2016-fall 2017. Our province ran out of water--treated water had to be trucked in from Liguria--and 99% of our established plants got no supplementary water in that year. They all survived.

I think that planning for drought and planning for flood are two sides of the same coin. The same woodlands and treed floodplains raise the water table, absorb water and slow its flood, sequester carbon and purify the air. As you see, I've gotten onto general environmental improvement. My hope is that DH and I can stay active long enough to extend and improve our plant cover here on the farm, though of course that's less than a drop in the bucket on a planetary scale. I've been interested in the drainages in the big garden for a while. They continue down from our neighbors' fields and land above us, bringing their sediment load, and pollutants, in wet weather. I want to keep that sediment on my property, and a good part of the water. So I plant shrubs along the ditches, block the ditches themselves with debris, and lately have been considering water plants, cattails for example, though they are untidy. All to hold the water and absorb it and hold the sediment; and water plants could purify it, too.

The air quality down in the nearby plain is vile now--thank goodness DD is doing exams and doesn't need to be down in Piacenze all day five days a week--and there's no improvement in sight, only a worsening situation. The only hope I have is that if people choke badly enough on the air they may realize that action is needed: their own, and in the form of government action. Same for the drought-flood cycles, though so far they don't seem to have brought any widespread enlightenment.

Hi, K S. A series of small actions, but governments can do a lot, both in the way of cheerleading, as well as legislation. My actions are a grain of sand on the beach. Both Australia and the U.S. are led by men, Scott Morrison and Donald Trump, who deny the reality of climate change. And then there's Brasil's Bolsonaro. The system needs to change.

Yes,the system DOES need to change. The small actions are important, as are changing certain habits, but people really do have to vote out of office these goons that insist on denying the obvious. I also think that we humans must change our attitude-stop thinking in terms of "conquering" and "dominating" Nature. She is Mother Nature. The very idea of wanting to conquer and dominate our Mother is indeed warped at best.

Hopefully more and more green power solutions come in and the air pollution will be a memory. I hate LA basin air pollution. We don't have it as bad but when the wind pushes the pollution out to sea, I can see our beautiful blue mountains rising up out of the trees. I think most people here would get an electric car if there was the push to make them affordable. Hybrids at least! We have more and more solar covered parking lots. I like seeing that. California seems to be trying anyway. One thing we don't have is good public rail. You can ride anywhere the metro train goes all day on the weekend for 10 dollars....into LA or into Riverside, down to the ocean or to San Juan Capistrano mission which i do frequently. The trains are spaced far apart so you have to plan. Just hate air pollution.

Alas we have tiger mosquitos too. I've been wearing a sachet of herbs rolled in a bandana which i tie on my arm or around my neck. Th rest of the skin stays covered. Too bad because I love shorts and summer dresses. The solar charged zappers get any mosquitos that snuck in the house during the day.

Meet too if I won the money prize id be out planting every day and not sitting or buying stuff to collect. I'd keep buying books from my favorite used book store. She had to go to a smaller shop because she lost the lease and they want to tear down the shops to put in apartments. What a nice person she is. I always take her vases of roses. She's good to all her staff.

I think your planning to catch the water is very good. Just a few things like that can make all the difference. People are smart. We will find solutions. Your garden will be appreciated decades from now and all your hard work will give years of joy.

Melissa and Bart, how are you? Reading the news today, "Italian officials announced Sunday that the number of positive cases of coronavirus is now at 1,694, including 806 additional cases on Sunday -- marking a 91% one-day increase." (ABC News). Hope everything goes well with you two.

Yes, please take care, our dear “Italian” rose friends! Keep us posted on your health and lovely gardens. :-)

Summersrhythm and Perma, thanks for checking in. In fact Coronavirus is a big deal locally. The original locus of the outbreak, Codogno, is just up the road from us and right across the Po River from the city of Piacenza, our provincial capital. The virus came right away to Piacenza, as a number of people from Codogno were treated early on at the hospital in Piacenza. Our province has a largish number of people diagnosed with Coronavirus, 189 at last count, though not all of them live here, merely have been diagnosed here. Schools are closed for the second week, and there are further closures to attempt to slow down the spread of the virus. I don't know whether there's person-to-person transmission yet in the province, or how widespread it might be. There's a lot of uncertainty, though, except for all the kids rejoicing in the unexpected vacation, life is continuing on fairly normally.

My family is pretty much staying home except for grocery runs. DD's new semester was supposed to start last week; as it is, she's studying for two exams she has to make up, then spends time on the computer, draws, exercises, and so on. She's happy enough here, as am I with my garden, books, internet. DH goes on long walks, and so far has respected the family ban on coffee shops. The proposed visit by my brother and niece has been called off, and I suspect I will not be making my usual visit to the U.S. this summer, though I'm watching and waiting. My best guess is that Coronavirus, in Italy and worldwide, is going to get worse before it gets better. We're being cautious and closely following the news.

Glad to hear from you Melissa! Don’t cross the Po river.! That’s too close to home!! Stay indoors as much as you can, wait for the warm weather. I have been checking on coronavirus updates daily too. The good news is coronavirus will die off when the temp goes up, just like any kinds of flu , your area is not far from spring warm weather. Also I heard having a couple drinks per day helps keeping the virus away, not wanting you to become an alcoholic though. I am praying for hot weather everywhere, to stop this virus! Be careful my garden friend!

Thank you,Melissa! Sounds like you all are being very sensible. Thoughts and prayers that it will be contained and over soon enough.

Thats good to know about the warm weather, summers! :-)

Thanks for the good wishes. I don't know whether the virus will be much affected by the arrival of warm weather: we'll see. Currently there are cases in Australia, where it's late summer, so a laboratory to observe how the virus acts in those conditions. It's a new virus; nobody knows exactly how it will behave.

Sorry, I'm a pessimist!

We had 0 rain here for the entire month of Feb, and that has never happened since they have been keeping track of it. There was a horrible high pressure ridge stuck right off shore, forcing all of the storms either North or South of us. The past 2 weeks it even got relatively hot - about 78 degrees F high each beautiful, sunny, day. FINALLY the high pressure ridge moved on, and it is in the 50s today, and drizzling, and they claim it will rain tomorrow and next Tuesday. We only have March and part of April to get any more rain before our normal dry season starts, so I am hoping...We had to turn on our irrigation system in the middle of Feb, and I would really like to be able to turn it off for at least a little while.

Jackie

Good luck, Jackie. We finally got rain this last week, and good rain: about 3 1/2 inches, spread out over several days. So that should hold us for a while. I hope similar for you.

We have really ..... our climate (supply your own obscenity).

Stay indoors. You guys have 5883 coronavirus patients now. The numbers went up so quickly! I am glad you and your family are Ok. Hopefully Bart is safe too, she is a senior I think, needs to be more careful.

Actually, we have acres of wood and garden to wander around in with no risk of infection, and the weather is beautiful right now. And we can walk all over the countryside. It's the people who are stuck in cities, the social types, and the ones who have to go to work, who are going to suffer. You're right that the numbers are rising with frightening speed, which is why the government has taken drastic measures. I believe Bart and I are about the same age, but she has health problems which put her more at risk than I am (I think).

That’s nice to know you are in the countryside, Hopefully Bart is far away from the infection zones. Stay healthy !

Melissa - they said last night on TV that the Italian Govt. has said that no one can come or go out of or into the entire Northern part of Italy. I presume you are in that area? So glad that you have all of that land and lovely garden to roam around in, and got some rain, and Spring is coming and it will be beautiful. Hope you did not have any plans to travel.

We have theater tickets in San Francisco in 3 days, and I was already contemplating whether I really wanted to see that show (which luckily I do not, really), and I got an email from the theater company explaining how they had just deep cleaned the entire theater, etc., and that "the show will go on". However, if anyone wanted to exchange their tickets for a later date or show, they were waiving the exchange fee. They also said if you did not want to go you could donate the tickets to them, and they would send a tax credit doc. So, I did the latter. It was just another heads up that we are in a worldwide situation - then hearing from you it re-emphasized it. My Dh and I are 70, but healthy (accd to our doctors), so I am not really worried, but reminders come every day. My SIL and BIL are having their 50th anniversary this summer, and had planned to take 11 people (all of their children, spouses, & grandchildren) on a 2 week cruise in the Mediterranean, followed by a vacation at Lake Como. Got trip insurance, but not for "pandemics". Sigh. That is not a real tragedy, of course, but this thing does seem to be muddling a lot of people's lives, even if they do not get sick.

Thinking of you in your beautiful garden '

Jackie

I'm thinking of you all as well. I have been following this closely. If people would have stopped traveling alot sooner than they did it would have been better contained.

I wish they would go ahead and do online for school. We just got our first diagnosis. With my autoimmune issues, I didn't care to go anywhere.

I didn't hear about the heat killing it off? Where did you hear that?

Alana, there are some people who are theorizing that it *might* behave like the flu, which tends to be seasonal -- spreading in the winter. But there is no evidence so far for this supposition. Stay safe! Obviously we hear a lot about how bad it is in Italy, but it is all over our country right now and there are VERY FEW tests being done -- the number of infections is vastly under-reported in the US. At least in Italy there is action being taken.

Everybody needs to be paying attention. DH is active and energetic, but he's also well into his eighties, and so in a vulnerable category. I decided we'd all be staying home as much as possible as soon as the news of coronavirus in Italy was announced. With a household consisting of a retiree, a housewife, and a student whose school was closed, we luckily could afford to do so. DD's online university courses started today: she sat comfortably on the living room sofa with earbuds on, listened and watched the lecture on her computer and busily scribbled notes. She said it was weird, but she liked not having to go to Piacenza, a trip that takes about an hour and a quarter one way. Since we had already quarantined ourselves over two weeks ago, the official quarantine doesn't make any difference to us. I had had some travel plans, not yet finalized, and was forced to give them up. I'm a bit tired of sitting home, in spite of our comfortable situation, but have no reasonable alternative.

It's hard not to fall into panic on one hand and foolish overconfidence on the other. But I think people need to take coronavirus seriously, and I mean in the U.S. Italy has been serious about it from the start, and events since have shown that was smart.

I'm happy to hear that you are safe in your home and dear garden. My garden is my refuge too. I was collecting rain in open buckets but now see mosquitos so I poured it onto the roses. I did manage to bottle over 50 gallons for orchids and houseplants. I don't mind staying home but for my sister this is a trial. We haven't seen the real sadness from this yet.......people still walk about feeling untouched by it. My school closed. I miss my friends but it was the right thing to do.

Take care, kitty, you and your sister and everybody! This virus is no joke.

My family is still healthy here, but there are local cases of the virus, and we're being careful.