Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Garden #86, 1 by plantladylin

plantladylin wrote:
Grrrr ... the temperature here is dropping quickly! We've had wind (sometimes 30mph) and rain today and now the front has passed and the cold is arriving. It's predicted to drop to 29º tonight and one weather report said 21º tomorrow night!! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS WEATHER?

My husband moved more plants onto the covered deck and he's hung heavy tarps on the north side to keep out the cold and winds. He also hung a tarp on the other open end to try to protect the plants from the winds. Every plant is covered with old blankets. The back porch is crammed with plants too and I threw a blanket over some of them. A few plants in the yard are covered, but a few were left to the elements. I have two Monstera deliciosa plants that are in containers under a tree in one corner of the backyard ... hope they survive. I forgot to cover the Tibouchina that are planted in the backyard, I bet they will be mush but I usually see them at our local Home Depot every year so they can be replaced easily if they don't survive the winter. One day last week I strained a muscle in my back while moving heavy plants when my husband was at work. He always yells at me for lifting the heavy ones, telling me to leave them for him to move but I don't listen. I paid for it too early last week, spent one full day barley able to move around.

Rita: Are your Loquat trees blooming now? My neighbor has lots of those trees in her backyard along our fence line and they've been blooming for about a month now. The Gray Catbirds love the fruit when it appears in the spring!