Saturday, March 12, 2022

Batten down the hatches

We're expecting wild weather later this afternoon and tonight. Strong winds and tornado watches through the afternoon will make way for a hard freeze tonight. Ah, March. I don't think any month is more temperamental. Just last week temperatures were reaching almost 80 degrees and I could wear shorts at night when we went out to walk George. Now it's going to be in the mid 20s tonight and lots of early blooms and tender new vegetation will suffer. 

My salad garden has been coming along nicely (lettuce, radishes, and carrots) and will have to be protected. I'm planning to drape a sturdy tarp over that side of the raised bed and find some good heavy stones to hold it in place overnight. The pots of camellia starts will have to be secured, either on the porch up against the wall or else in the garage. I doubt there's much I can do for the tender new leaves on the fig tree. A hard freeze this time last year took out the new growth, but more leaves sprouted immediately afterwards and there was no lasting harm. The daffodils should be fine. Did I mention that my newly planted daffodil bulbs are blooming like mad? I counted almost three dozen flowers this morning! I doubt one night of cold will hurt them, but I'm considering picking a vase full for the house just in case.

I'm not worried about the newly planted crabapple tree---because it's still nothing but a bare stick! At least in that case there's no tender new growth to lose. The pomegranate tree will be fine. It's covered in a flush of tiny leaves, but it's in the warmest and most protected spot in the yard.

What else? I think all that will be left to do after covering the raised bed and moving the potted plants will be to do one final scan of the yard and porch for loose items. My container of seed potatoes has small sprouts and will have to be moved into the garage for the night to protect them from the freeze, too. That should be all. All that I have any control over, anyway!



Radish and lettuce sprouts I'll be covering tonight
 when the temperature starts to drop.


22 comments:

  1. Those radish and lettuce sprouts look so lovely and healthy and green - care for them well tonight.

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    1. I will, dear Pat. I wish I could pop down to your house in a couple of weeks and deliver a basket of fresh salad veggies for you to enjoy!

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  2. I hope everything survives the wild weather!

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    1. Me too! Of course, this is the risk you take when you plant out this early, but some of these cool weather veggies would never survive the heat down here if they were started any later.

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  3. March is crazy! Hope everything does OK in the extreme weather. We're having a bomb cyclone here in NY. I'm supposed to fly home tomorrow. Hopefully!

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  4. I always say that March can break your heart. And it's true here. We're supposed to get the same freeze. My darling husband moved my porch plants closer to the wall and we've covered them up. Again. Sigh. The garden, I hope, will just survive. We don't have any peppers or tomatoes or summer plants in yet. So weird. But I've seen this before.

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    1. All of my peppers and tomatoes are still cozy and warm, growing under a light in the house. They're just on the verge of getting their first sets of true leaves. It will be at least mid-April before I'll risk planting them!

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  5. I hope that Almighty God spares you and your household from the stormy weather and with this in mind I shall pray for you and your baby radishes and baby lettuces. The main thing is to make sure that Marco is safe.

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    1. Marco's too tough and cantankerous to be taken out by a mere winter storm! That bird's going to outlive us all!

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  6. My daffodil sprouts were sitting in snow a few days ago and look just fine so you are right about not worrying about them. You sound ready to protect all of the rest of your plants. Good luck with the freeze! Hope no bad weather comes near your.

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    1. Good! Because I never got around to picking any, and now it's dark. Thanks for the good wishes!

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  7. Try putting a large heavy duty garbage bag over the fig tree, it's the frost you really have to worry about.

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    1. I'll post pictures of what I ended up doing and the results tomorrow! :)

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  8. You are mentally prepared for March, it just remains to do the salvaging. Good luck with all that hard work.

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  9. I hope all of your lovely plants and flowers survive the freeze! You are certainly doing all you can for them. Our March is still snow covered after two big storms last week. But that is not unusual for us and our weather does love to jump around from extremes a lot too.

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  10. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day here yesterday; I noticed plenty of people in shorts. Today rain! Your seedlings look very healthy, I'm sure they'll be fine.

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  11. I hope everyone comes through the storms safely, including your new gardens!

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  12. What an exciting time of the year. I look forward to hearing how your new garden survived the cold.

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  13. Hopefully, the storm won‘t be as bad as expected, and not cause any damage to your house and garden.
    It‘s been rather mild and sunny here for a few days in a row now, but still frosty at night. Walking was mixed - one minute I wanted to throw coat and scarf off me, then I rounded a bend, found myself in the shade or exposed to the wind, and zipped my coat all the way up.

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  14. A late freeze is a real drag. I hope everything comes through OK. Sounds like you have good plans in place! The daffodils won't be bothered, I'm sure.

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  15. central Texas is freaking out..it's cold then wet, then hot, then cold then wet..and that's just Monday.

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