I think I'm ready...

The first day of this new year has been very productive, in a kind of backward way.

We spent the afternoon getting ready for our first cold weather of the season. We have had some cool mornings, but we are expecting a hard freeze tonight and tomorrow night. National weather says a low of 31, the newspaper says maybe down to 25. Too cold for me.

That is what I meant about being productive in a backward way. I spent the afternoon moving pots of plant material to the greenhouses, and covering what could not be moved. It doesn't 'feel' right, somehow. It seems that we should be setting them out in the sun.....

We have a huge schefflera, s. actinophylla, that fills a pot measuring 102 gallons. It has to be covered, as it is too big to put into the greenhouse. It took 2 cloud covers to cover it, and 2 people to do it.

When I had things covered and protected the way I wanted, I cut the Angel's Trumpets back by more than half. They will be damaged, regardless of how much you cover them. The best thing is to go ahead and cut them back, stick the cuttings and pray that the ones in the ground come back next year. It is kind of silly to lose all those precious cuttings. I have a huge lot of them to stick...yellow, pink, dreamscicle, purply, white, and the shredded hankie. They are super easy to root, too.

That done, I went and cut back all the pink firespikes, and some of the red ones. They are hardier than the Brugmansia, but I sure don't want to lose that pink one.

Tomorrow is going to be cold, and I am such a sissy. I hate cold weather. I am going to spend my day in the greenhouse, which will be pretty warm, sticking those cuttings and getting pots ready to start seeds for spring. If it is a real good day, I will stay there all day, and clean out the greenhouse.

I took pictures today, of what is still blooming in the garden. Lantana (white and lavender) firespikes, flame acanthus, clock vine, s. coccinea, angelonia (lavender and purple), bulbine (yellow), shrimp plant (common), Brazillian buttons, dianthus, and the most fabulous blue sky vine! I am having problems with my dock, it doesn't seem to want to download the pictures, but I will work on it in the morning so I can post those pictures.

Not everything will be gone tomorrow, but most will. I almost wish the butterfly vine was in danger of being frostbitten, but no. That thing is getting out of hand. I need to take a firm stand with it.