Today we uncovered all of the tender plants. Nobody is dead, but there will definitely be major pruning of frost damage in the spring. My plants want their snow bird rebate, as well. I just love this bougainvillea – is that cheerful or what?
This was yesterday at Home Depot. They sustained a lot of plant loss. The hibiscus, bougainvillea, and several succulents just took it in the head. The succulents were mush.
The cactus, on the other hand, looked pretty good. I love these plants, and wouldn’t mind having one of everything in the yard.
However. Does this look like a three hour ordeal to you? It was. The ground here is so hard you must soak it with water to soften it up. If you’re pressed for time and you can’t let it sit overnight, you end up shoveling mud. It’s like concrete, it’s so hard and full of rocks, it’s just miserable and heavy. Then there is the handling of the plant. It was in a 12 inch tall container and it, too, weighed a ton. We couldn’t get the height right and had to keep lifting it out with a shovel, which caused the root ball to decrease with each movement, and holding that thing is fraught with peril. We finally declared victory and quit messing with it. I’m not happy that it isn’t centered, but in four or five years when it needs more space, we’ll move the rocks and re-level around it.
I’m telling you and myself these things so that when I start drooling over specimen cacti, I can reacquaint myself with how difficult this was, and just to walk away from the plant life.
The other thing that happened today was the new microwave was installed. The old one was on its deathbed, the carousel motor was giving up the ghost. Wonder of wonders, we discovered that it’s vented through the roof. The noise from the old fan was such that we didn’t use if for fear of hearing damage. The stove and dishwasher are next on the list, but since they’re working fine there is no rush.
We’re now on a generally warming trend. It’s raining more than usual, which is ok, it’s good for the plants, but at least it’s not freezing anymore.
I do like the color of your fridge and microwave!
ReplyDeleteI love a little garden, but it is sadly downsized each time I move. Another move and I probably won't have one. Not that I'm strong enough to get in a little plant, let alone a great cactus.
It's a new color in the appliance world called slate. Unlike stainless, it does not show finger prints. I'm still at a loss to understand the popularity of stainless when it requires so much effort to keep shiny.
DeleteI like the slate, and so glad that it doesn't show fingerprints. I completely agree with you about stainless!
DeleteWe had a bougainvillea in front of the house we used to rent in Santa Clara California. It bloomed three different colors from on plant. There was white and deep blue in addition to the red.
ReplyDeleteThose plants are not only very beautiful they are tough. Workmen put new siding on that building and ended up cutting the plant down to nothing but a stock. I thought it was dead. It is very beautiful again as we drove out of town for Texas in early December.
We are fortunate in Prescott to have decomposed granite which is easy to dig!
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