Friday, February 10, 2012

Horsefeathers!!

Our spring apparently will be short lived, and to be truthful, it wasn't spring at all, I guess.  Following the front that's coming through now and the rain that it's bringing, the forecast is for lows of 29 degrees on Sunday morning and 25 degrees on Monday morning.  That qualifies as a hard freeze.  Crapola!!  I was so hoping this wouldn't happen, and I certainly hoped it would have waited a week or two for this new growth to harden off some.  Probably even a couple of weeks wouldn't be long enough.  Dang!  The rose bushes are looking so beautiful.  Tomorrow I'll take some photos of them in between rain showers... and say good-bye to spring for a while.  Of course, now would be a good time for the meteorological computers to be wrong, wouldn't it?


Hold the presses and praise God!!  I just looked at the forecast again (an hour has passed), and now it says the low on Monday morning will be 27 degrees.  That's an improvement!  Maybe, just maybe, there will be more upward revisions.  I certainly pray so!

16 comments:

  1. You can send all the cold weather to us. We're way too warm. Here's hoping your roses come through ok.

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    1. I wish I had the ability to give this cold weather to you, Casa Mariposa. Any place but here! I haven't been outside yet to look at the aftermath. Through the windows everything looks normal, but looks can be deceiving.

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  2. We are getting and have been the last half of yesterday and yet more today but even with that still only a few inches. First we've had. Really strange year.

    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. We didn't get much rain, Cher, but I'm glad you did. Any rain we can get is beautiful. Too bad it's followed by freezes.

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  3. We've been paitiently waiting on some of the rain, the cold not so much.

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    1. Yeah, not so much. I agree with that. January suckered me into believing February wouldn't be February. At least in my heart I totally bought into the idea that all the unseasonably warm weather we had for the last month would continue without interruption. It's hard to to say, "I didn't think February would be cold" without sounding like an idiot. Lesson learned.

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  4. I certainly hope the weather persons are wrong about those low temperatures forecasted for your part of Florida. That will certainly set your roses back a bit. Here in Houston, they are forecasting a few nights in the 30’s with maybe a possible light freeze. I know this time of year that is not what us gardeners want to hear. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Love your blog! I’m a BIG rose fan!

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    1. It was 30 degrees at 6AM and 28 at 7AM according to the Accuweather website - not as low as the forecast and not as long lasting. We had some wind which wasn't forecast. So I'm a little more optimistic about what I'll find when I go out to visit the roses.

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  5. My sentiments exactly, I am totally annoyed. Where I am the inland is forecasted at 27...so, me might squeak by here on the peninsula with a 33, but its not looking good, and the weather forecast guy keeps making a point that the coastal areas aren't going to be safe this go around. Personally, I think we'd be okay except for the accompanying 35 mph winds out there. Gonna be a cold night. BUT! on the flip side, I'm finally going to get to have my first fire in the fireplace for the year. But those poor little roses all just leafed out. Except for the wind its hard to imagine its coming as its sunny and 60, but... the weather map looks ominous.

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    1. Jess, I'm sure your fireplace was cozy for you last night. I think the light winds here kept it from getting as cold as was forecast. Now we just have to get through tonight.

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  6. We just never know what the 'real' weather is going to turn out - the weatherman is always wrong, and they change it hourly! But, it did freeze here last night and tonight is supposed to be colder. I'm not going out there until this is over (we got no rain), and then I'll assess the damage. I hope your and my gardens don't get any damage. Stay warm! I'm drinking hot cocoa!

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    1. Your hot cocoa was a good idea, HolleyGarden! I'm just grateful that the cold wasn't as bad as they said it would be. The sun outside is warm, so that's where I'm headed.

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  7. Me too! I hope they move it up even more. If the ground is wet it helps to slow down the severity of any freeze. If you get some high clouds and a light wind that also helps stir the air and lessen the damage. I'll be praying as well.
    Do you cover things with blankets? I have old sleeping bags, towels, sheets, pillow cases, and felted table cloths from the dollar store that go into action. I just put them out tonight. I'm looking at a low of 34 but I'm not taking any chances since things are budding out already.
    David/:0)

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    1. David, even though it had rained and I had watered in the morning, I watered again at 6 o'clock when I came in from feeding. I also covered all of the hydrangeas which had all budded out again. I covered one with the wheelbarrow turned upside down and the others with tarps and one with a garbage can. Old nursery pots went on the baby roses even though I pretty much knew they'd be alright. I was wishing I could cover all the new daylilies I had put out in the last few weeks, but I chose not to make the effort. The cold doesn't kill just ruins the foliage on some things. Thanks for all the good tips and the prayers. I was praying, too, even though it seemed not quite right that He'd protect my beautiful roses. They just seemed so defenseless and happily unaware of what was coming. It made me sad. Our low was 28 but only for an hour or so, so He did protect them from the hard freeze. No prayer is too small, right?

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  8. We had a cold snap down our way too. But, it didn't bring any frost and it wasn't freezing for long at all. Hope your garden comes back quickly now. I do think that had to be the last really cold spell of this mostly mild winter. (Well, it's a LOT milder here in central Florida than where you are.) I need to start feeding and pruning my roses!

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  9. Hey Sherry,
    We here in Summerville,SC have had a very warm winter I think the warmest we've had since I lived her going on 16 years this summer. Most of my roses have relly begun to leaf out, a lot of new growth. We just had two very hard freezes back to back and the roses seemed to come through just fine. So hopefully your will too!

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