Friday, I covered more plants...pruned back the yellow and pink angel trumpets to a size that could be covered,
five of the azaleas so far, the two plumbagos, the yesterday/today/tomorrow. These in addition to what I covered yesterday. I had to make a trip to the store for heavy duty contractor trash bags in order to accomplish it. I also tried to buy a couple of blue tarps but I was way late to the party for that, nothing but empty shelves. I plan on covering the rest of the azaleas tomorrow because I don't know if they will survive 48 hours of below 20 and then three more nights of lows in the 20s. Probably the angel trumpets won't make it even if they are covered and whether they will come back from the roots remains to be seen. The banana trees, yellow bells, night blooming jasmine, mexican bird of paradise, shrimp plant, purple orchid tree will all freeze to the ground as will the firespike and I may cover that as well and I have no idea how the easter lilies and my crinum lilies are going to fare or the altheas. I googled camellias and I think it will be OK. I may cover it anyway.
Today, I am not a happy camper. It's cold windy overcast and damp and I don't like it. The birds are all fluffed up and bickering over what's left of the birdseed so I ran out and got more, two kinds and squirrel food. Tomorrow I'm going to throw a big blanket over the last group of azaleas and lay a towel across the sweet peas and after that I'm not setting foot out of the house.
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And of course they voted to acquit Trump. I'm disgusted by the cowardice, if I'm being nice, the traitorous actions, if I'm not, of the Republican senators who voted to throw our democracy under the bus...again. On display is their blatant refusal to honor the oaths they took to protect and defend the constitution when they were sworn in and to be impartial jurors of these proceedings in their self serving pursuits of power, those who would not put aside their fear or arrogance to do what was in the best interest of this country, that being to show that instigating a violent uprising by the loser to undo a fair election would not be tolerated. So, apparently, now that is tolerated and that's a dangerous precedent to set. I hope they are pleased with themselves because history will not be kind to them and even though we will remind everyone again and again of their cowardice, our democratic republic is now on even shakier ground.
And that's all I have to say about that.
All the plants you stand to lose makes me very sad. How many years you will spend bringing them back.
ReplyDeleteprobably I'll only lose the boston fern, easily replaced. I think everything else will either survive or come back.
Deletepretty sure trump sent the weather.
ReplyDeleteI hope things warm up there soon and all your plants survive. This is a crazy long-spell of arctic air.
ReplyDeleteI am worried about the future of our country. Very worried and sad.
Hello Ellen,
ReplyDeleteThere is so much trouble in the world at the moment. It is easy to lose hope and be constantly in fear.
However, one has to try and keep faith that all will be well and that the future can hold the promise of good things to come. It is not easy.
And, how distressing this weather is for your garden plants. We no longer have a garden but when we did there were always battles with the weather to be fought. Flood, drought, arctic conditions, yes, we had them all and one thing we did learn was that plants have a strong will to survive. It may be that they are held back or that they are damaged but bad weather conditions rarely kill them off entirely. Whatever, good to give them cover if you can and best to leave them until good weather conditions returns before cutting back.
Do not give up hope. All will be well.
nice to meet you Jane and Lance. no, haven't given up, hope springs eternal.
DeleteThe hypocrisy of this party's members leaves me gobsmacked.
ReplyDeletehow so many can so easily take oaths they have no intention of honoring and do it with a straight face is beyond me.
DeleteI think that's what has me so flabbergasted -- they lie like the coward that they voted to impeach but won't find him guilty of inciting the riot, even when it's on film and they feared for their lives during the attack. What are these people made of????
DeleteI think your plants will come back. I certainly hope so. Have you ever had temperatures that severe for that long? I would not begin to know what to do.
ReplyDeleteI spent four days of my life listening to that trial. And why?
I suppose I am a witness to history. We all are. And what good will that do?
I hope you stay safe and snug, dear Ellen. I am thinking of you.
in 2011 we had a week or so of low temps in the 20s. it's the teens that worry me though the weather people say we've had nights in the teens, most notably in 1989 which I don't remember. I think you're right about the plants. the five azaleas I covered were covered with buds. the last group is already putting out new growth so I may not cover them as they aren't going to bloom this year anyway.
Deletefrom now on I'm referring to the GOP as Trumplicans since the Republican party is dead.
Yeah, the impeachment outcome is depressing. Those Republicans are looking out for their own skins, and I hope the fact that someone as devoid of integrity as Trump has a stranglehold on their party keeps them up at night.
ReplyDeleteI hope your plants pull through. They may surprise you, although that does sound like a lot of cold. I wonder if mulching the angel trumpets beneath (or even on top of) the tarps would help. In Florida, when there's going to be a deep freeze, the citrus growers turn on sprinklers to freeze the trees -- supposedly it keeps them encased in a 32-degree shell, rather than exposing them to even colder air temperatures. I don't know if this would work for azaleas or any other garden plants, though.
the azaleas I covered were covered with buds. the last group isn't putting out any and we are supposed to get rain so I may let the freezing rain protect them. no two weather services are giving the same predictions so who knows how cold it's going to get.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the unusually horrible cold is threatening your plants. Your azaleas will survive, mine always do in our much colder winters, but this year's blossoms probably not. Underground is still probably warm, despite the air temp, do I'm betting on roots surviving even if this year's flowers don't. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteHope your plants will be okay.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of how I felt in 2016 when the ass was first elected. At least he and his minions are no longer in charge! So we are much better now than we were then!
Like you said, Hope...!
Texas has two Senators to flush down the toilet.
ReplyDeletewe're trying.
DeleteOy! Your weather sounds awful. Hopefully the plants don't die, I really like looking at them when you publish pictures.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the weather you guys are getting! I hope it doesn't get as cold as predicted.
ReplyDeleteI echo your disgust.
I hope you have power. It's bad in Austin, and the only place on Galveston that has power now is around UTMB. I'm somehow hooked up with a part of the grid that's considered 'essential,' I guess, because I haven't lost power yet. (Let me go knock on every piece of wood in this place.)
ReplyDeletewe haven't lost power so far though many in our area have. my granddaughter in Austin has power as does the one in San Antonio but the one in Houston does not. my daughter out here has power but no water even though they insulated the pipes under the house. we turned our water off at the meter last night and back on again this morning so we're good there. glad you have power. no fun to freeze in the dark.
DeleteYou can say all you want about those cowards. Now we will have suits and court things and other messes that are just waiting in the wings.
ReplyDelete44 rotten to the core senators stood between us and the Justice we deserved...they did NOT represent the American people they swore an oath to protect against this very thing. Good luck with your plants. We have had cold buckets of rain for 5 days now...it's nasty.
ReplyDelete