LAKE ARROWHEAD - DON'T PLANT UNTIL AFTER MOTHERS DAY

When my husband and I moved to Lake Arrowhead 10 years ago, we brought with us a lifetime of down the hill (DTH) perceptions. "Down the Hill". That's what we call anywhere off the mountain, be it San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, well you get the idea.

We truly love it on the mountain, but it is different up here, different in a good way.

We wave to people on the road, know half the shoppers at the grocery store. Sometimes a trip to get milk takes more than just a few minutes because we are greeting our friends and getting updated on what's going on in their lives. Since we all pick up our mail at the post office, that too is a place to say "hi, how have you been". By the way, Our postal workers are great and go out of their to meet our needs.

Anyway, back to Mother's Day and planting. Since we have 4 seasons, and weather has it's own mind, we can never be sure if there will be a cold snap with snow and freezing temps in April or May, hence "Don't plant before Mother's Day". This weekend is a good example, with low temps and threat of snow.

When I drive past a nursery or garden shop I yearn to buys flats of flowers, especially pansies, I love those little pansy faces. Waiting makes me appreciate flowers even more. Soon, soon, it will be time to plant.

In general the mountain thinks it Spring. Yellow daffodils are coming up and the trees are forming the first small buds of leaves. This week there were streams of hundreds, maybe thousands of butterflies going through the Lake Arrowhead Village on their annual spring fly away. What a sight. The frogs are back too, croaking at night in the small ponds that have formed during the spring thaw.

There are many micro climates on the mountain. The North side tends to be a little warmer, and has less snow and rain. The South side, a little cooler and has more trees. The West side, particularly near Twin Peaks, where I live, is at a ligher elevation about 5700 feet, the lake is at 5106. The West side tends to get more snow and Spring comes a little later than the rest of the mountain. My friend who lives on the east side, near the Marina, says she is in the banana belt. I don't know, I haven't seen any bananas falling off the trees over there.

Have a great week. Give me a call or email if I can be of help with any of your real estate needs or you want some information about the Lake Arrowhead area.

You can reach me at 909-336-7924 or nancyatlkarhd@hotmail.com

Thanks, Nancy Wright