Freeze Froze Ferns, Flowers & Figs....

Since December & January were so mild with no bad freezes, my plants & flowers looked spectacular.   Then the freeze came.  We had enough advanced warning to allow us to protect our potted plants and flowers, but the larger stuff took a beating.  Here are some before and after shots.

This was my yard before the freeze with the lush variegated ginger topping the 6 foot fence.

I will have to do some cutting this weekend, but I won't go crazy.  Dan Gill often  says not to cut off the dead stuff until you can see new growth emerging.  That way you don't overcut.  Keep that in mind as we warm up and you want to get outside this weekend.

Not everything is lost as some of the heartier flowers did just fine.   I will get my Crown of Thorns & top hat begonias our of my shed tomorrow.   We'll be close to freezing tonight so I don't want to chance it.

Clouds finally left us today allowing us to see the snow cover on the ground.  Not all of the white is snow cover.  I circled the clouds that linger with the rest of the white snow on the ground.

The cold air has pushed all the way down through the Yucatan, but the core of the cold has shifted to the east and this weekend should see a noticeable warmup.

After tonight's freeze on the North Shore, I don't see any more freeze threats as we head towards March.  A weak front will blow through early Monday, but the air will be of Pacific origin and not from the Arctic.

Note we don't see any below zero temps anymore and the warm up doesn't show up in Texas because they still have snow cover to melt.

Since we have reached 50+ this afternoon, we will not have to worry about running water tonight unless you're on the North Shore.   All I can say, sitting in my back sun room this afternoon I heard John Denver...Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy!   Oh what a feeling it's back!  Stay tuned!