j_cheney: (Bunny)
J. Kathleen Cheney ([personal profile] j_cheney) wrote2009-04-07 10:01 am
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SPRINGFAIL 2009 (TM) at an end in Oklahoma

I'm not certain if [livejournal.com profile] jimhines has tradmarked this phrase yet.
(ETA: Title edited to properly meet [livejournal.com profile] jimhines' trademark requirements. ;o) )

Last night it hit 25 here, which meant danger for a lot of the plants that are up. Most can take a 32, or even a 30, with only minor leaf burning, but 25 is just too low.

Last night I got out and covered the most tender and the recent transplants.

Here I have geraniums and amaryllises. Some of the amaryllises are already sending up blooms, and a frost would have killed them back to the ground.

More amaryllises nestled amid Serbian bellflowers. The bellflowers, as you can see, don't mind the cold. They're from Serbia. They're used to it...

Covered geraniums, and in the background, wilty peonies. The peonies should make it, not being as tender*. ::fingers crossed::

The recently transplaned front yard stuff. All of it hardy, but since it was recently transplanted, more fragile than normal. I'll water and compost them today, and hope they make a good recover.

A lot of other stuff was covered, but boring. THat should have been our last freeze for the year. They're predicting lows in or near the 40s for most of the rest of the month. I'll hope they're right.

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*For non-gardeners, tender means that a plant isn't able to survive cold. Hardy means that it is.

[identity profile] orogeny.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Poor cold, freezing babies!

I hope they're OK.

[identity profile] jimhines.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
That's SPRINGFAIL 2009 (TM), and you owe me a quarter!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:19 pm (UTC)(link)
This is actually late for a freeze here, so it's an annoying fluke. (I suspect you're rather cooler there.)

They should all survive. I'll wait a while before taking pictures of them, as they're not at their bst right now ;o) (Bad hair day, in plant terms)

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll change it right away! I'll give you the quarter at Wiscon, if you're there, plus interest. ;o)

[identity profile] gabriel-writes.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
What did you weigh the bags down with to keep them blowing away?

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
And I'm afriad it's not over for you people up there, yet, is it?

[identity profile] orogeny.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah... our last frost date is May 16, technically. In fact, the wind chill today is 31, which is annoying as heck. I want to be warm outside!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The bags are held down with gardening staples, although there are some cement squares on them as well. I also used wooden kitchen skewers...no sate for us for a while!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeesh!!! I'm from the desert, and this is as far north as I ever want to live. I don't know how people up north (yes, I do realize PA isn't very far north) survive those nasty winters.

I'll hope you get a warm streak early ;o)

[identity profile] jimhines.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
It was snowing the last time I peeked out a window...

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
::shivers::

So very sorry...

[identity profile] dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
See, that's what you get for trying to raise plants. Cats, on the other hand, despite being worthless, are in fact warm blooded and heat generating. And therefore much more comfy to have around than any silly old plant.

Dr. "Brown Thumb, Black Blight" Phil

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
;o)

And yet I'm not allergic to the things in the yard...

[identity profile] tlmorganfield.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, we've been experiencing much of the same. Winter seems to have come extremely late this year. several weeks of 60-70 degree weather at the end of winter then bam! Huge snowstorm. My daylily isn't looking so swift, but the Asiastic lily recovered quite nicely. I've been keeping my tuberose pots inside the house for the last week though I should put them outside today since it's so nice. It will remain to be seen whether or not the ones I left in the barrels over winter will come back or not. They are in a place that got sun all day long during the winter, but I'm not crossing my fingers for it.

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know how hardy tuberoses are, (I've never had good luck with them, honestly) so I hope the outside ones make it. My daylilies always seem to bounce back pretty well, and the lilies---those things are made of steel!

I'll hope that this is the last blast for you guys, too (although I think yours will linger on for a few more days) I don't know about you, but I'm sure ready for this weather to make up its mind!

[identity profile] aliettedb.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Ouch. Hope they survive, or that the cold spell stops. This isn't a good time to be a tender plant.

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, it's late for us to have a freeze. Combined with the really warm January and Feb, and the plants are terribly confused. (Me, too).

[identity profile] displacedtexan.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Isn't the last freeze on average sometime in April? So, not really that late. I do hope the plants survive. Speaking of your post on $$$ spent on unused software, the plants represent a $$$ investment, too!

[identity profile] raebryant.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, I put out some pansies over a week ago. They seemed to be doing all right, but today we actually had a little snow. I live in MD. Is that legal this late?

[identity profile] stillnotbored.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Windchill in Central Ohio is 28 at the moment. It was snowing pretty well a while ago, but the ground is too warm for it to stick.

On Sunday it was 67. I'd like to go back to that now, please. I love winder, but I'd moved on to spring.

[identity profile] musingaloud.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh. I won't post about our weather then. It will just make you swoon. Although we're getting a lot colder today. I think it's supposed to maybe get down into the 60's. *shivers*

;-)

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I know, but we'll use the plants.

April 1, I believe...

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I know, this winter has been strange!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I think that's the same way my plants felt...they'd moved on!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-07 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Pbbbbt! ;o)

[identity profile] isleburroughs.livejournal.com 2009-04-08 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
April snows here:o)

Hope your flowers survive, J..

[identity profile] displacedtexan.livejournal.com 2009-04-08 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
I don't begrudge the $$ on the plants - the yard and gardens always look super!

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-08 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks ;o)

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2009-04-08 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Yuck! The plants will survive ;o)