Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Freezes Not Over...

Whether I’m making groceries, at the hair dresser or in a restaurant, the questions are the same…”are we done with the freezes?”   My answers are “absolutely not!”.   Central Alaska is 40-50 BELOW ZERO and there are signs from the long range models that the east coast trough is coming back.   That will mean what’s up north will come south.  The question then is…how far south?  The next 5-10 days look fairly seasonal with highs in the 60s & lows in the 40s.  The real cold arrives Feb. 1-20th right in time for Mardi Gras.  It won’t be freezing every day, but overall below the average/normal highs & lows.   We are currently in the coldest part of winter (historically) and won’t really be done with freezes until after March 10th.   The way this winter is going, we could still need coats & jackets well into April.  Say it isn’t so.  

 

Scouting my yard finds a real disaster with my plants.   I already told you my lemon tree is toast, but my satsuma looks like it’ll be fine.  The big grapefruit tree is looking like I may have to whack it back a lot, but it should be ok.  So many of my yard plants are just brown and limp that I can only hope their roots survived.   The grass is totally brown, but I know that is just a dormant state and warmer weather will bring it back.  As much as I want to get some color back in my yard, I know it’s too soon to replant knowing more freezes are still coming.   My 2 crown of thorns have dropped most of their leaves but they should be OK.  I’ve kept them in my shed since they are rather large and difficult to move.   My next chore is to work on my 4 bird houses to get them ready for the Spring “nucky nucky time”.  I love watching the birds make the nests and then see the new families arrive weeks later.  Ahhh, Spring.  It’s really my favorite time of the year.  Stay tuned!

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