Colder Nights Mean Brilliant Southern Flowers...

You know when I begin with flowers, little is going on weather-wise.  During the brutal summer heat, many flowers cannot tolerate that stress and fade away.  Once we get into the cooler October/November weather nights, Buda Boom,  Fall flowers go nuts!  Of course you have to replant the cooler annuals, but their burst of bright colors are worth it.

Obviously, there are many varieties of petunias, but one of my favorites is the "Top Hat Begonias" in pink and white.

Their leaves & flower bracts are bigger than the ordinary begonia plants.(top 2 pics).   My shrimp plant is doing very well being replanted after Ida.  I know the Winter cold will whack it back to the ground, but I'll try to get it through the cold season.  The bottom pic is Clarence, my Crown of Thorns.  He's getting stringy so I'll probably cut back the longer stems.  My yard should stay pretty for another 2-3 weeks or until more serious cold arrives.

That won't happen until we get a deep dip in the upper steering.  Today's front is bring the real chill to the NE & Great Lakes, but the core of the cold will stay to our north.  The next 2-3 days look terrific.

Skies have cleared and drier air is filtering (not roaring) in.  When we get a real Winter front, winds behind it will be 20-30 mph with 40+ along the coast.  This is just the perfect front for me.  

We'll see another front bring us some after dark showers on Thanksgiving with cooler and drier air coming for the weekend.  Finally, today's .29" at MSY brings the yearly total to 82.95 or .59" short of jumping into the 3rd wettest year.  With 6 weeks left in the year, we should easily get the 2.36" that will boost us to the # 2 spot.   # 1 is untouchable for now (we hope!)  Stay tuned!