Nope! I just cheered with the rest of the kids...I was athleticly impaired! My daughter was in the dance team in high school...until she had a tendon injury during dance team camp and later she was forced out when she couldn't get over it fast enough! There was something on TV just the other way about how dangerous cheerleading and other similar things in schools are getting. Some of the team coaches admitted it. To be competitive, the kids and coaches are forced into much more dangerous stunts every year, leading to more serious injuries. So please don't encourage kids to go into cheerleading and dance team. They showed one girl who was a victim of this trend...paralyzed and was deprived of oxygen, so brain damaged as well. The point being there are no mandatory national safety standards for these sports. I think that is a shame!
Blustery days ahead... let's stay warm by this fire!
Morning....anyone remember the name of the spray used to protect plants from freezing? I have some things I can't take in, can't effectively cover, and hate to lose.....at least want to give them a fighting chance.
water?
Yes, I have some ( not so impressed yet) called FreezPruf
http://www.liquidfence.com/FreezePruf.html
I'm with ya, I don't like cold, I don't like dead looking...I would have stayed in Alaska if I did!
This was interesting reading about why it's so cold
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/01/why_has_this_winter_been_so_freaking_cold.html
What did you play in marching band, Gymgirl? :-) I played tuba.
I haven't heard of a spray to protect plants, bigbubbles... If you figure it out, let us know! :-)
I'm going out to cover my yard in a bit. I don't have too many tender plants, but I want to cover up my roses, the cyclamen I just planted last week, and my orchid cactus. I forgot to cover my bromeliad in one of the earlier freezes, so it's already mush. Rats.
Pod, I call the number Ken gave me and I will have two boxes of 20x100 plastic for 58 dollars each by next Wednesday. Of course that won't help me for now, but I'll be ready for the next one.
I have a regular gh uv rated plastic on the outside of my gh, but I use the other for an extra layer on the ends and for the inside mini gh. I also make lots of minis using tables, shelves etc. and drape the extra plastic on them. You wouldn't believe how much extra heat that gives the plants.
The bbq pit thing is dh's idea and I too am a bit concerned. It will have the lid closed and shoudn't pose a fire hazard. I am going to google around and see if I can find out about possible damage to my plants from the smoke.
We didn't get as cold last night as predicted, but it is coming in strong now. I haven't checked the temp, but I know it is freezing. We had some misting rain last night until this morning and it wasn't freezing yet. If they missed that, I am hoping that maybe they missed on the low temps for tonight and later also. I just hope that it doesn't get colder than they predicted as they could miss on it either way you know.
Staying and keeping warm here. Poor dh is the gh man and he keeps going out to check on things and so far, it is cozy in there.
I do worry about a fire. I am uninsured and I wouldn't want to have to face that happening. We are being as careful as possible.
Charlene
I am concerned about carbon monoxide, Charlene. It is odorless and colorless and VERY DEADLY. The risk for plants is not worth the risk of your lives.
Christi
Not to worry Christi. We are not spending a lot of time inside the gh when the heat is on. DH just goes in every few hours to see that all is well and is in and out quickly.
We are doing our best to keep safe. I had also thought about the carbon monoxide poison and we are watching every possible element of safety that we can. Yesterday, I worked in the gh for about an hour and I told dh to keep tabs on me and I on him to be sure we were not having a problem. We were putting some plastic over a frame we had built for some new cuttings that I stuck and for extra tender plants.
I do my best to keep everything safe and environmentally friendly. If something does happen to me, it will surely be the will of God because I talk to him about these concerning areas of my life and ask him to guide me and protect me.
Also, I ask questions of everyone and anyone who will listen to me and I learn as I go. LOL Just a few years ago I was known as the lady who could kill a plastic plant. Now my friends and neighbors ask me for advice on plants. Go Figure!!
Thanks to the internet I can get answers to most questions and thus I can learn along the way. I still kill a few things but I am getting so rewarded for the things that grow for me and I love what I am doing.
Don't Worry!!
Charlene
This is the coldest stretch of weather since I became a home owner and a gardener. It is nerve wracking!
Dennis
Friday night is now predicted to be down to 13° here....I figure that could actually be 9° to10°......and then there's the chill factor to add in.
Yes, in my 41 years in Texas I don't remember having this name nights in a row of below freezing weather, we did have one winter that the temperature dipped very low and the pipes froze by my kitchen sink, believe me, it was terrible.
Lived here within 13 miles of the hospital I was born in 68 years ago. 26 years ago we had almost duplicate circumstances. My grandson was a newborn and my daughter and her husband and another couple had to stay with us for several days as the water in the apartments were freezing and breaking the pipes. It is certainly not usual but it is not historic.
Watched a special on science channel last night about the south pole. very, very interesting. Shows just where and how our cold fronts originate. They have taken core pockets of ice as far back as 6000 years. These things run in cycles. I don't prefer it but God is control, not I.
BTW, wind chill does not effect plants, just hot blooded animals.
The plant nurseries will be hopping next Spring except don't know where they will get their stock. Better start stocking the seeds.
Christi
I think the older I get, the worse it seems to become.
Freeze pruf is what I was looking for. Thanks Randy. Guess it's too cool to apply now. Needs to be 50 or warmer.
Yes, and worse, so far as I know you can only get it by mail. I missed the first round of freeze that way. It came 2 days after!
Flash back to 1988 Christmas Eve; we had an unexpected freeze that cause many busted pipes. I was working for an insurance adjusting firm at the time in Houston. We were inundated with claims, many people were out of town and came home to flooded homes. I was making cookies in the kitchen when our pipes bursted.....but I finished the batch in knee high water!
Protect your pipes!!
I remember the freeze of '89 and the freeze of '96. In '96 I was living in an apt. in Kerrville. I left my pipes dripping, but someone down the way from me didn't. The pipe busted in my apt. and flooded it. I was in San Antonio and had to drive back in the cold to salvage my living room and kitchen contents. ICK!!
What about the freeze of 83. In Fort Worth it went below freezing for over seven days. It was just before Christmas and it was also the first frost of the year. I had Crepe Myrtles freeze to the ground and lost over fifty roses. I have a picture of a rose that I took when it was 5 F, it was beautiful. People can't believe it was so cold and the rose looked so good. It didn't look so good a month later.
My grandson was born Sept. 1, 1983, the next January, 1984 was the particular cold spell I was referring to.
Aaron Michael Christian 9/1/83---4/14/09
Christi
I moved here 88/89 and was here for that freeze...what a disastor that was...I was lucky and had the only pipes that didn't bust in the apartment..the down side was that everyone in the complex was standing at my door taking turns for showers!
Well, rjuddharrison, at least you got to really know your neighbors!
I'm with you, I hate the cold.
It was probably the cold snap that Ken mentioned in '83 but we stayed below freezing for 5 days and nights right before Christmas. Even the local municipality water pumps froze. Since then, the first thing I think about with cold weather is to draw adequate water.
I do not know how valid this is but I had a man tell me today that if you feel you are losing your short term memory, you need to check your home or surroundings for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Charlene ~ I am glad you were able to get some of that plastic on the way. Good price Ken.
I started feeding birds last summer because I felt sorry for them, with the drought, there was no food in the wild. Well, now the winter, there's still tons of them. I thought things would slack off, with the winter being so cold, but there's more than ever. So I live in a big winter bird area, huh? Never noticed that before. I have to fill that darn feeder every day! Feed them and they will come!
The thermometer on the north side of my house is reading 20°. Did'nt make the 15 as predicted. Better throw another log or two on that fire.
No joke on another log! Brrr... but thankfully we only saw 22°. Off to check the GH. Good luck all.
We have 18 here with a wind chill of 5, I sure hope the many gallon and half gallon pots I have outside make it.
A pan with some liquid on the stove top that is near an outside wall looked like it was "slushy". The house was still warming up and at 64 degrees. Now I think I should have removed the plants from the window.
22 degrees this mornin' at @ 5:00am.....the wind chill right at 8 .......our 4 legged kids had a nice romp this mornin' for about 5 minutes and decided they liked bein' inside better and beat me to the door. My GH temp is 38 degrees right now...down to 36 earlier...so we made it thru the 1st night....concerned about the next 2 nights though....I may have to set my GH on fire to keep the temp. up
Yes, I have a small electric heater in the garage but the temperature was about 30 in there.
It was 14 when I got up this morning. Many plants are looking sad.
Well, if the roots survive they will be o.k. that is what i am hoping for.
We moved our plants into the enclosed sunroom attached to our house. We also turned on the electric heater we have out there. It's still COLD in that room!! At least they're protected and warmer than they'd have been if left outside. They'll make it, but some are looking pretty sad.
I haven't peeked under the sheets and tarp yet. Either mine made it or didn't...mostly teenage cabbages, halfway to harvest. They were pretty well established, so I'm hoping they truly like this cold and are giggling under the sheets!
WFAA (the local ABC station) is reporting that the 1983 freeze was the worst in north TX history (200+ hours below freezing). I was living in an apartment at the time, but the pipes must not have burst because I have no memory of this event. Luckily I have only one plant to stress over, my Kumquat. I watered it deeply just prior to the cold front, mulched it heavily, and wrapped it snuggly with burlap. All I can do is wait and hope. Everything else can be replaced, if need be. After so many mild winters, I guess we were due for this type of weather. Hopefully this freeze is killing off the yucky bugs.
Carla
In 1983 I owned a private school and daycare. On Monday after the hard freeze I had my regular school assembly and stopped by my office (down the hall) as I sent my first graders to their classroom. One of the students came running to my office and said; Mrs. Houseman some of the kids are ice skating in the room. I said to myself sure and I can fly too.
Well, when I went into the classroom, it was truly a sight to behold. It had about four inches of solid ice on it. The pipes had burst under the sink and while we had been closed over the weekend, the water had frozen.
So far, my gh is holding the heat enough to keep my plants happy. Dh is off to fill the propane bottles again for another round. The bbq pit idea that he had didn't succeed.
It smoked too much no matter what he did. (I had my doubts)
We are not doing any work in the gh during the time the heaters are on, so no exposure to the carbon monoxide that Christi so kindly worried about.
I am hoping that there will be no plant damage due to the fumes.
So far, it is looking good.
I am wondering if the small crepe myrtles that were planted last spring will return.
Willis and Karen, my darling dh dug up all of the oleanders and put them in the gh. They aren't potted yet, but they are safe from the freezing temps.
Good luck to all and to all be safe as possible.
Thank you so much Ken for the info on the plastic. We will be picking it up next Wed.
Send me a d-mail if you and Maggie would like to meet for lunch as we will be headed your way.
Charlene
I was just thinking that I need to run down to the hardware store and get some birdfood. I noticed they are having to work harder.
Wow, we now have winter. We're up to 22 from 20. Got a fountain running that provides unfrozed water for the animals who spend a brief time outdoors here and there. It's amazing to see a small bowl of water freeze up between trips outside.
My daughter refuses to by a coat for work (military and base in OK) because she'll never wear it again, in fact she can't ,once she changes jobs and uniforms in February. The coat she had last winter can't be worn now. Trips from her car and betweens buildings is her only exposure. Still, she's tougher than her mom.
Good luck with everything everybody!
Woohoo! Sunny and a balmy 23º! I don't see how folks in the north stand this weather! LOL
The forecasters didn't grant us a reprieve from the extreme cold tonight...in fact, for S.A. they seem to be going lower, I hear. Good chance of snow on Sunday night now.
Sun early this a.m. but then frumpy looking for the rest of the day with a high of {{{ shiver }}} 31°. That was just for a short time before it plummeted. So far, the GH is doing o.k. It got down to low 30°s this am but all the plants appear to have dealt with it. I put a remote thermometer out there and am amazed to watch it from in the house. I can tell when I need to add wood to the box heater. I also have a large old kettle with water steaming on the heater to add humidity which seems to make the cold more tolerable to the plants.
A meager Hibiscus bloom ~ but welcome on a day like today!
