I'm jealous of all the Texans in zones 8 & 9.
I'm itching to work outside in the garden, but it's wet, miserable and cold. Poo.
Itchy - and Jealous
Not much to envy here. Because we're in the hills, everything got zapped during our 3-day ice storm earlier and will have to wait to see how many of the plants survived. Lost a lot of tree limbs then also. Nothing blooming now except some winter honeysuckle and a few pansies I bought, which are still in pots. It was just above freezing this morning and two freezes forecast for next two nights. Have started seeds indoors under lights, however. Patience...winter can't last forever!
ZONE 9a woke up to 39 degree weather this morning, so I'm not feeling like "working outside in the garden, because it has been wet, miserable and cold!" And, they're predicting a weekend of temps in the 20s!!!!!
I transplanted 26 tomato seedlings into styrofoam cups last night, and have another 30 or so to go.. They are INSIDE, dry and warm. And this newbie is thanking all those who counseled her NOT to put the seedlings outside cause it was TOO SOON!
Freezing temperatures here last night, too. It is 1:00 PM and still 38ºF outside. The wind makes it feel colder. It's going to stay cold for the next few days dropping down to freezing at night. I dread those clear cold nights.
It was 24 degrees here this morning. Now it has warmed up to 31.
L, you might want to bump that up to zone 10 or 11, it's colder than .... here! It's supposed to be down to 30 or below on Friday night.
Come on spring!
Same here, can't do anything outside yet, too cold and too muddy, but thank God for the rain.
We even have a few snow flurries coming down right now.
How can I be jealous of you guys if you are just as miserable as me? Dang it.
OTOH, my seedlings are growing by leaps and bounds, and I potted my caladiums and hostas to get them an early start on leafing...it's like I'm poised at the starting line, just waiting for the gun to go off!
nothing to envy here... It was COLD this morning. and GREY....
Brrrrrrr here, too!!!
Last year was my first season with my own garden. I bought boxes of caladium bulbs from Sam's Club. This year, they don't have them out yet. Where do you guys get them? I particularly want to plant the green and white striped ones this year. Last season was Red Flash, and they were spectacular pockets of color with my tropicals and Sago Palms. Not a big spending budget this summer, so need a big splash of color on the cheap. Any suggestion would be welcomed, too. Thanks in advance. I also did two brilliant orange Ixora which were gorgeous!
Caladiums like warm dirt, so wait until it has been consistently warm outside for quite a while. I bought some last year from Caladiums4Less through a coop and they were fantastic! He has an ad in the Classifieds right now.. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/691796/ He has an eBay store, too.
That sounded like a paid advertisement, I realize.. LOL It wasn't meant to be, I just really like the ones I got last year. :-)
Thanks, Marilyn.
Seems like it took forever for my bulbs to come up. When should I plant them here? Can I get a jump start by planting them inside now?
My Houston Garden Book (I LOVE that book!!) says to plant them when the air and soil temperatures stay above 70°. I'd say that means early April, or late March at the earliest, wouldn't you? We still get a lot of 60's and 50's at night in early March.
Has anyone else started them in the house earlier?
Where can I get that Book?
I've seen it in area Barnes & Nobles. It's wonderful!!
With a high of 39 here today and too much muck to turn a spade, nothing to be envious of here. I wanna move further south but would have to learn another language. Sorry....
This message was edited Feb 15, 2007 7:00 AM
The whole of the continental United States is running about 20 degrees below normal, so you aren't alone! Our normal temps this time of year SHOULD BE lows in the 20's and highs in the 40-50 degree range.
We are currently at a balmy 7 degrees with a high of 19 for today. We have been having temps, for about three days in a row, in the teens for a high, then for one day only, in the 40's, then back into the deep freeze - very bad for plants!
Pod,
You are soooooooooooooooooooo wrong for that. They can't help being in a foreign country in South Texas.....
Didn't realize it would continue to get cold down here in the deep south tip of Texas! The sun was out and it warmed up the day but temps are supposed to go down into the low 30's tonight. UGH!!! I miss my butterflies!!!
sí amigos, está frío aquí
~ Cat (alive and well and living in south Texas...aka a foreign country indeed! Also fluent in Spanish and quite capable of squeaking by with Portugese, French, German, Italian, Latin and American Sign language as well as feline and canine too...PFFFFT! GRRRRR! :o)
Gymgirl, yes I think you can plant caladiums inside to get an early start. When I get my coop order, they will go right in the pot and probably sit in the livingroom in front of the window.
It's been way too cold for this Texan. Even if it's not wet, it's too cold to work outside because my teeth hurt in the cold. And to make things worse we are having a wake for my FIL tomorrow and we can't put anybody outside to eat. We have 2 really nice patios and can't use either one. We may have 30 people tomorrow and we don't have a big house. We might have to put them in the garage with heaters.
LOL Cat!! Pensez chaude!
17 degrees tonight.
Makes you cold just thinking about it. Thank god the rain stopped.
I'm sorry to hear about your FIL, silverfluter. I'll be praying for peace and comfort for you and your family - and that everyone fits in cozily and without grumpiness in whatever space you can stow them. :-)
Thanks Marylyn. I'm hoping I have time to take pictures. I think I'm going to be pretty busy though. One good thing about having a bunch of people over is that projects that were started years ago, suddenly get finished.:) We've had an unfinished hallway for 16 years. Well it's finished now!lol
Mary Lee
The same here Mary Lee, Bless you, so many things happening all at once, I am sorry about your father in law.
Josephine.
Thanks ya'll for the good vibes.:) I'm really looking for ward to spring and the RU. Howcome nobody's talking on that thread?
I guess because it is too cold and nobody has anything ready yet, we had to start the tread early because of having to reserve the pavilion.
Oh, yes. That's true. I know it needs to be cold in the winter, but I so want to be outside. From my kitchen window everything looks so dead. But If I go out and look close I see leaf buds all over my roses. Daffodils are not blooming yet, but my hyacinth are. I really need to plant more of those. It's so great to see those pink flowers in Feb!
It's hard to get excited about spring when it's 20F outside....and I think it actually got below that before I got up. I got tired of protecting things....whatever croaks, croaks. Got lots of seedlings going though.
:) Kim
Same here, Blue Eyes.
Silverfluter,
My condolences on the loss of your DFIL. Will say a prayer for your family today.
I have pics of my babies, and will post in about 2 hours or so.
It got down to 21ºF last night. Kim, I adopted the same attitude this last go round. This is sure a different winter than we have had in the last few years.
Here're my pics!
P.S. They're in 16 oz. styrofoam cups. The roots go all the way to the bottom of the cups. That's how leggy they are!
#2
#3
Last one. Took these on the way out the door this morning. Camelia bloomed for the very FIRST time. And the Rabbit's Foot Fern doesn't seem to mind the cold. Has grown 3x it's size since summer!
Very nice Gymgirl, they all look healthy and a lot of roots is a good thing.
Yard's pretty soggy around here--hard to even get to the beds to weed. I will say the weeds have really enjoyed this El Nino winter. ;)
The squirrels keep pulling up the little sprouts that are coming up under the birdfeeder and nibbling on them! I'm liking this trend!! Now if I could just get them interested in the nutgrass...
All right ~ I don't feel apologies are needed as my comment must have been taken wrong.
Gymgirl, your comment "You are soooooooooooooooooooo wrong for that. They can't help being in a foreign country in South Texas....."
I don't think there was any ill intent on my comment. I have lived with many other nationalities over the years and resent none of them. Like any group of people, there are good and bad among all of us. I have NO problem with other languages/people! My problem is ~ I was thinking like ~ moving to the the equator and I am too lazy to learn another language! Do NOT like the cold and we saw 21 degrees here this a.m. so Larissa, no zone envy here...