Deja Vu – The Big Freeze
Considering the volume of *content* I was cranking out last week, it may have been a surprise to all 6 of you regulars who check on my blog to see that I haven’t posted since Monday. Well, we have been very busy preparing physically… spiritually… emotionally… for the cold snap that came barreling through Central Texas this week.
As my husband would say, this wasn’t my first rodeo preparing for the cold weather. I saw the forecast early on and did my best to protect my plants (detailed here), but as a Southern California native new to gardening, it was quite a struggle for me.
The Calm Before the Ice Storm
I thought I’d highlight some almost-blooms we had growing before the cold front hit.
Opening Day
The inclement weather came on hard and fast. I made the lazy decision to not cover the irises and they suffered for it.
The flowers that I did cover, such as the ranunculus, tulips, daffodils, and my dad’s Eiffel Tower rose bush, did quite well. As cold as it got on Thursday night, that was basically a test run; it was only going to get colder as the week went on.
Day 2 was actually dry. The temperature held steady around 28F, and I decided that, since the plants are mostly hardy to 10-20F, they should be uncovered for the day to get some sunlight to hold them through the week ahead.
I decided to make the coverings a bit more robust for night 2. I pulled the shower curtains from our guest bathroom to line the ranunculus frost cover. The single trash bag that covered the Eiffel Tower bush was bolstered by a second trash bag and a moving blanket that I hope will insulate it well. I also laid two bags of mulch from our garage to insulate the plants, aiming to at least make it a little tougher for the cold air to get to them.
When I finished laying the mulch and securing the covers and trash bags over the plants, I let out a deep sigh, feeling like Mia Thermopolous at the beginning of The Princess Diaries.
Temperatures are projected to get as low as 0F, reports are showing as much as a foot of snow for our area, and it’s highly likely that, despite my efforts, the flowers won’t make it. In an act of self-preservation, a la Meredith Marks of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, I am disengaging from my garden work until further notice. The thought of losing all of these flowers, especially the ranunculus that were due to produce a bloom any day now, makes me pretty darn sad. Today, I’m distracting myself by cooking an 8-hour-bolognese sauce to layer in our Valentine’s Day lasagna tomorrow.
stay warm and stay safe.
-bbb
One Comment
Pingback: