Weather not fit for man nor beast. Let's stay by the fire!

Ken--Be comforted in knowing they are all romping happily in heaven.

Perhaps these folks could help you Ken...

Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue
13124 Ranchette Rd
Montgomery, TX 77356

Whoops.....forgot to give you the phone number Ken.

Phone: 877-746-9508

Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue
13124 Ranchette Rd
Montgomery, TX 77356

Sorry to hear that you lost the last one, Ken. They are a wonderful breed!

Awww, Ken, sorry about losing the last puppy. How sad!

The weather is supposed to be very spring-like for the next several days. Wonder how many plants it'll fool? LOL Good time to get out and work in the yard/gardens to get ready for spring planting.

Yes, we were out planting some small trees and transplanting shrubs and it was wonderful.

Thanks morganc for the information. I am not in a situation where I can take an older dog. All my dog run free and it is hard to train a dog that you can not keep in a pen until they are ready. I still have Momma, Papa and Sis, so I'm not without protection. It's just that Momma is getting up in age and I would like to have a pair of girls up and ready before we loose her. I have had a number of Pyrenees in years past and this generation seems to be the best we have ever had. It has a lot to do with the male we have. He is so sweet and gentile.

On another note, how about this weather, record cold one week and now the forecast says temps. in the 70s and the lowest nighttime temp is 47. I just planted Blueberrys that really suffered in the freeze and now I hope the Peach trees do not start to bloom. I am still working for people who have busted pipe problems.

Ken ~ what is the expected life span of a large dog like that? Do you think the problems you ran into with the pups was due to Mommas' age or something else?

What type of blueberries did you plant?

Bettydee ~ thank you for the link. I just added photos and a comment. I am not intending to move it. It is within a hundred yards of the house and I can step out there whenever I wish. It has given me the urge to open walking paths thru our 14 acres of woods. Something I've wanted to do often... perhaps this will inspire me. (in my spare time)

Outside raking this am and find the daffs are putting buds on. The Byzantine glads are popping thru as well as green foliage for daylilies, etc. The salvia and scutellaria never even browned with all those teens temps. I also have a Pavonia (rock rose) and a Senna that are still green. Amazing! I read somewhere the fennel should be divided after a couple years. I think mine is ready but wonder when the best time would be. Or even just to harvest it. Any thoughts?

KIM! Sunburn? How could you even mention that? LOL I am truly jealous. We hope to hear how you enjoyed the trip and of course about the plants we know you admired.

Allwild ~ galoshes? When in east TX do as the east Texans do. Let that wet, cold mud squish between the toes. I made a lap thru the woods yesterday in crocs. The open holes have the same effect! LOL

My 6 year old gardenia I am afraid is toast. Covered it with a cotton sheet and when I took it off.....every leaf is brown. Will fertilize and pet it before I try to cut it down or remove it. Last summer it was covered with blooms for over a month. Oddly, another that I didn't cover doesn't seem to be hurt and it is even more exposed to the north wind. Oh well. Generally, our worst cold weather comes in late February/early March. This madness is not over yet.

Christi

I do not even want to think about Febuary. I just keep telling myself the worst is over. Some cacti are mush, one palm looks very bad, hard to tell at this point what is alive. I put out my only brug today to get some sun, that is the one thing I brought in the house. Next year...some kind of green house.
C

Podster LOL I'm still wearing my Crocs~wearing them right now! I'll have to give the cold mud a try... it's been sooo very long ago.

I did gather up a bunch of leaves from the woods the other day and put in a compost pile. dh made a nice compost holder out of split logs so I'm trying to fill it up.

Last year we had some late freezes. I've misplaced my Farmer's Almanac - I think it says freezing in Feb.

Christi ~ what did you cover that Gardenia with? I am curious as to why one would crater and the other survive.

Still raking and cleaning up the mess from the old plant shelter. I tore it down to move into the GH and left a major mess. Newtonsthirdlaw ~ what kind of greenhouse are you planning for?

One that is seasonal and I can take down after winter. Not enough space for something permanent.

Do you have a good place to store it? I saw one DGr that used the A frame from a swing set. How large are you going to make it?

Here are a few pictures from Argentina. As for the flora...believe it or not it was pretty much the same as Texas. I saw lots of lantana and crepe myrtles and other flowers we see around here. Actually, the climate there is similar to Texas so I suppose that makes sense. One day we went horseback riding through the mountains. Here is a picture I took along the way.

And here I am near the river through downtown Cordoba.

Here is a picture of a beautiful cathedral we visited while we were there.

And finally....some of the BBQ we had while we were there...

Ah to be in Argintina in the summer....
I am not sure about the size, likely around 10' x 6'.
C

Podster, I used a cotton sheet to cover the gardenia. Supposed to be the best thing. It is in a more protected area than the other. I wish I had a clue as to what happened. I have plants in a 16x12 tool shed, 6x8 Rion GH and in the unheated garage as well as the house. Struggling with all of them. Of course, the tropicals in the yard are still a mystery. They have come back in previous years from the roots. We shall see. (everything is heavily mulched)

Kim, those photos make me wish for spring.

I didn't mind winter last year, but then, we didn't have much of a winter.

I put a large shelf inside my living room against a double window and have put cuttings in trays on every shelf. I have 16 trays with 50 cuttings in each one.

I didn't think I would have to do that anymore with my gh. The weather has been so cold and it has required so much heat just to keep temps tolerable in the gh. I decided that I could keep the cuttings warmer inside.

Lou, there are lots of different kinds of gardenia, that look pretty much similar, but may be affected differently by the weather. Maybe your gardenias are different types. In any case, I would take some cuttings of the one that took the weather the best and start some more of it. The other one may come back from the roots in the spring, don't count it out just yet.

I took a few cuttings from my Augusta gardenia that I have potted up and inside the gh.

I would love a few cuttings of the bigger kind. I am going to get some as soon as spring shows itself. There is a nice large one just the next pasture over in our family cemetery. It has been there for many years and it will likely have survived.

Ken, sorry for your puppies that didn't make it. Your big one's are such sweeties.

Charlene

Thanks for the encouragement, Charline, as always.

Christi Lou

Cabin fever has set in. I'm taking DH to Seguin today. There's a great nursery, Green Gate, that I want to browse.... The carrot at the end of the stick is to head back thru Lockhart to a barbeque joint so DH can chow down. He just left to take #12 to the "farm" before we leave. Hope I find some cool plants today, but just getting out will be fun.

... and if you don't like TX weather, just give it a little bit. It will change! In the 70°s this week ~ amazing! Yesterday morning I listened to the frogs and toads and crickets and bugs. Last night when we came home from work with windows open the croakers were so loud, it can't help but feel like spring.

Christi ~ that must have been a more tender gardenia or perhaps not as established. We will hope it comes back from roots. I like them but have had no luck with them.

Bubbles ~ let's hear a "cool plant" report. I tried a few garden centers on Sunday afternoon only to realize all had been bit hard by the major freeze. Speaking of freeze, I did feel better seeing everyones' Sago palms in this area had turned yaller...

The Sago looks like mine does.

bettydee...no snakes, thank goodness....I do wear my rubber boots when I tramp thru the hoop houses now tho. I have lots of pots and places they could possibly curl up and spend the winter in there... I'm pretty sure that if I saw one, I'd burst thru the side of one of those plastic hoops and carry the whole thing on my face out to the street as I ran screaming down the hill! Snakes are not my friends....
Kim..I loved the pics of Argentina. What a great trip....
Pod....had a super day! We forgot how far it is to Seguin, but it was a nice morning...just a little drizzle, and it cleared off to be beautiful. I found lots of plants, but since my "keeper" was along, I restrained myself. Had my camera, but forgot to take pics of their hanging baskets and mixed pots...just gorgeous. It's still too early for most things, but I managed to pick up small pots of hoyas, day blooming cerus, lipstick plants, bell Kalanchoe, flame flower, sansevierias, bromeliad, and stephanotis.... The lady that helped me was amused by DH's comments about the boxes she was carrying to the front. He didn't know how lucky he was that he went with me....I could have done a lot more damage if he have stayed home. We drove to Lockhart and had barbeque. Good day...
We got home and #13 was sitting in the trap...mad as *&%@!!!!, and ready to go to the farm. I don't think we'll ever get rid of 'em...

Sansevierias......

Lipstick vines, bell kalanchaloe, var. hoya, "free thyme"

some cerus....including..."Ivan the Terrible"

This was marked down from $6.50 to $2. Going to be "hair" for my head statue.....

LouC on the Sago, mine sheds leaves annually so I am comfortable about it coming back in spring. Is yours in a pot or in ground. The pot bothers me a bit as the hard freeze may have caused root damage. It also has a baby Sago growing under the leaves but it didn't appear to be harmed.

Bubbles ~ do you know the cultivar of the Sans in your first photo. It appears to be a small cylindrica?
Your husband may have inhibited your purchases but nowhere near as limiting as the size of your ride. LOL Sounds like you have a string of cool greenhouses to tour.
Succulents! I love them... especially this time of year. I like your variegated Krinkle Hoya. Did you already have many Hoya? I really like them for their ease of care. I have found they are enjoying the GH immensely this winter and putting on lots of new growth. No blooms yet but I was hoping....

What do you mean you don't like snakes? Snakes are our friends. I don't like rats.

Pod...I haven't had time to look up the cultivars. Most of the plants at this nursery are only marked with basic names. The small one also had some pots with very long stems. They must have had 4 or 5 varieties. I have 3 other Sans...if they survived. Just like all the different ones I didn't know existed. There were a few more I wanted, but.....I'll have to go back. One had huge paddles. I'd seen it at Caldwell's a couple of yrs ago, but those particular Sans didn't look very healthy. These were.
They had a table of hoyas, but none were named. I like anything variegated, so picked up a small one. I have a couple of NOID hoyas.....one blooms all summer, the other just grows. Both were given to me and are in hanging baskets.
There was a huge basket of succulents in coir mixture. I forgot to take photo. I've never been into succulents, but after this drought, I'm rethinking that. They have a great selection, and most were $3.50. Same with cactus....

Ken....that's going to give me nightmares......

This is just wrong, we just went through record breaking cold and now my Bluebarrys are budding up. Late yesterday I went out to set and drink a cup of tea and watch my peacocks strutting for their hens. I could not set there long, the scetters ran me off. Also yesterday I was working in the back and got stung by several fire ants. Today I am putting plastic on a greenhouse and what jumps on to the plastic, a grasshopper. No one lover Spring any more that I but we really need it to cool down to normal.

LOL mother nature is very confused this winter. It's 59 outside and I have had my one potted brug outside all week. It is growing a lot of new leaves. I went out but didn't see any insects.
C

Since Monday I have had literally hundreds of Robins and Waxwings in my yard as there are several yaupon hollies and cherry laurels. Never have seen a flock or robin before and the waxwings are usually here in late March. It is a dreary and cold 55 now.

It was a warm morning but cloudy. We have been working outside but it is looking like rain. I guess I will go out to the greenhouse and clean the place up. I do not want to stay indoors today.

Every time I see Cedar Waxwings, I think of my oldest son. We had a loquat tree that was a regular for the Waxwings. They flocked to it every year and my son called them "bandit birds" because of their masks.

It's icky looking here today. The temps are back in the high 70's and the humidity is up there witht temps. It's trying to rain, but only sprinkles so far. I came in yesterday and the humidity was so bad I thought the pillows on the sofa were wet.

This weather is screwing up the chill hours for my fruit trees, but to be honest, I'm enjoying the spring like weather and it's doing wonders for our pasture grasses. The humidity hasn't been that bad. I looked at the forecast and we're due for lows back in the 30s, but the daytime temperatures are supposed to pop back up. I need to start pruning my fruit trees and it's more pleasant doing it in this kind of weather. Last year, it was so cold and windy when I pruned.

Grasshoppers are definitely NOT welcome, not after all the damage they did last year. I spotted one, a large one, in my greenhouse yesterday as I was watering. By the time I worked my way to where I saw it it was gone. I'll have to be on the look-out for it. I didn't find out til last year that adults can overwinter.

Winter's returning! Just heard on the weather report that we'll be back down to freezing temps by the end of the week.

Yes, don't you hate it? It was beginning to fell right.