Katy isn't all that big but I think the people's imagination is as far as the snow is concerned. We had a tiny bit of sleet. The birds loved us for the feed we put out for them and the water. It's just plain ole cold as far as I'm concerned. The last time I saw snow was the time it snowed on Christmas Eve and Christmas in Victoria which is way down south of Katy. That must have been 6 or so years ago. A lot of you around here remember that. We couldn't even get to church because the driveway at our house was curved and rather steep and we didn't want to end up on the lawn and sprinkler system by sliding down the drive. One of our kids came from Houston w/a DGD and they thoroughly enjoyed making snow people and balls. We had about 12" of snow and Houston only got a smattering.
Ann
Did anyone get snow?
We didn't get snow but we had 40mph winds and it was 41F this morning. It is not supposed to be that cold here the middle of December!
We had snow in 2004, first time in 108 years. Lots of the tropical plants were damaged but most survived. Don't toss out any of the plants too soon. Give them time to recover.
I didn't get snow, but the news just showed a picture where it had snowed in NEW ORLEANS!! Now that is strange for them.
Rntx, how the heck did you get more snow that me?!!! It fell for hours, but when I went out at 1:00 a.m., all of it had melted except for a bit on the picnic table. It was 34 degrees at that time and didn't get below freezing until 6:00 a.m.
Mittens! Funny you should ask because when it first started snowing at 4 in the afternoon, I started hauling in plants, and I could hear kids all up and down the block screaming with delight about the snow. I could also hear mom's telling kids to get their mittens! I couldn't believe they had mittens and I couldn't believe they were getting them out for that tiny bit of snow!
I still remember that snow in the 80's when I happened to come down with a virus the day it snowed. Because I was so sick, my teenage daughter stayed out in the cold quite a long time with a friend who had lived up north and was prepared for it. When I finally found her and got her inside (not easy when you're dizzy), I put her in a tub of lukewarm water to thaw out. And when I was better the next day, I had fun trying to start my car to get groceries, finally got someone to help jumpstart it and slid around on the road a little bit. The next morning, getting to work on ice was really fun! But at least it was early enough in the morning that few cars were on the road. But during the other big deep freeze (was that about '04?) the snow missed us and snowed all over far south Texas. Great pics, guys! Just froze here last night, 29°.
Snow, snow everywhere in central and southeast Tx. What a rare surprise!
It came last night here in Buffalo, TX. It is still on the ground in patches.
I hate that I forgot to check the frostweed for it's show. I am glad others remembered.
This is my first year to have a hoophouse. I don't heat it, so I can't call it a greenhouse. I have a smaller one inside a larger one so I put the tender things in the small one. That makes for double insulation. I haven't checked it out yet today, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it did the job. I have heard that this method works and that heat is not required unless temps drop below the 30's.
I hope everyone is staying warm and having lots of cocoa.
Charlene
The only big and lasting snow I can remember was in 72 or 73. It was wonderful to be young and have young children to play in the snow. We built snowmen in every neighbor's yard. We lived on a short block and all the neighbor's were like family. No one went to work the first day of the snow. We didn't have mittens, so I got some plastic and sowed mittens from an old sweater and covered them with plastic. I must have made 15 pair of them for all the kids in the neighborhood.
I made some plastic covers for my kids shoes that worked as "snow boots".
My daughter would go outside for about 5 minutes then go inside and stare out the door and cry because she wanted to go back out but she couldn't stand to be so cold.
I had never heard of snow angels until one of the kids mother's showed us all how to make them and of course we covered the block in snow angels.
That day was a memory maker for my oldest two children and I can't say it was any less for me.
The next day, I drove to work. That was the scariest drive I ever made. Cars were spinning around on the freeways. I of course drove way too slow. I did make it to work and home without incident, but the news was full of photos of people spinning out everywhere.
We actually had two days of snow and a third day with patches. That has never happened again in my lifetime here in Texas.
Charlene
I see very very little damage so far on Frostweed stems out by the creek where there are hundreds of them. Most of them will probably do their thing when it gets down to somewhere near 25° or so. But I'd just as soon wait until next month for that.
We had a few snow flurries during the day yesterday, but no snow last night. I would have enjoyed seeing it, but we have a few newborn calves and it would have been miserable for them. Moms tend to spend a lot of time licking their babies. I can imagine frozen little ears. Right now it's best they remain dry. I'll get my enjoyment watching it on TV and here.
we got some snow last night too!! the kids were sooo excited, have to admit i was excited too. :) i can count on one hand the number of snows we have had in my lifetime and i am 42. got he kids all bundled up and went out and played!! didnt get as much as some, about 1 inch, but it was still fun. of course it is gone now. the weather is really weird. it was 75 degrees Tues, 29 last night and is predicted to get up to 80 by next Monday! here are the kids by the swingset.
tracie
Victoria and Alex in the Snow!
I think knocking the snow off of the plants helped. Most things look pretty good. Alot of them will come back from their roots. The rubber tree did 4 years ago and is almost to the edge of the roof again. All of the really tender ones were in the two makeshift GH toasty and warm when I checked on them earlier. Most of the brugs are in the ground. The ones on the side of the house look OK. I think the pineapple plants may not make it, but at least they are cheap to replace.....probably no pineapples next year....I just didn't have room in the GH for them. Oh well! The more expensive plants were all protected. The swingset GH held up great!
We're in Houston and enjoyed watching it lightly falling but it was melted by the time it hit the lawn. Still, nostalgia from my youth. :)
Texasgal, Podster mentioned snow is a great insulator. It is! Knocking it off may help to keep branches from breaking if they are very fragile, but it also exposes the plant to colder air temperatures. Leaving it on helps keep the plant warmer if the temperature dips below 32 since everything under the snow remains at 32ºF.
Thanks for the info! Last time I left it on and it killed back most of my plants, so we will see what the result is this time. At least we'll have something to compare to!
Anybody heard from Randy? (Note: Randy posted in the Tropical Forum. They did get some snow. He posted pictures over there.)
This message was edited Dec 11, 2008 9:27 PM
This is a picture of my rose bed last night at about 6 pm.
Anne
That's some snow Annie!
Well, it wasn't supposed to freeze tonight, but when I got up at 5:00 it was 31.8 degrees. I'd uncovered my plants yesterday. What was I thinking? I went out and sprayed everything with the hose. I kept the bananas, pentas and plumerias wet the night before and they didn't freeze, so trying that again. It was easier than trying to cover stuff for 2 hrs of freezing temps, but I did get all wet and totally cold!
Great full moon out there.
We had snow, too! The kids had a great time playing in it. We did, too. :-) The girls have gotten mittens as Christmas presents from more northernly relatives. Usually they reside in the basket with their play clothes. LOL It was fun to pull them out and use them for their intended purposes for once!
The skullcap looks like it has pink Christmas lights.
Can you see this poor bromeliad shivering?
Very pretty Marylyn.
I bet the "kids" had a great time........both big and small! Did you get snow four years ago? We did!
Yes, on Christmas Eve. We had to go up to The Woodlands that evening to my sister-in-law's house, and we were expecting to find more snow there.. Nope.. they didn't even have as much as we had. We were highly amused later to hear that if we had gone south to Galveston instead of north to The Woodlands, we would have found "real" snow. Somehow that just seems so backwards. LOL
AHH yes Christmas Ever 2004. One most in south/southeast Texas are not likely to forget!! This one will be right up there with it!
Elphaba, I was just as shocked as you to see how much snow we got. Usually those north and west of us get it all. I think the difference was that when it passed over your house, it was earlier and warmer. We got the snow from 6PM -1AM; it got down to 32 very briefly, but it mostly stayed 33-34 so I don't know how it stayed so well.
When I woke up the next morning for work (at 5 AM) the snow was still there - lit up by a big beautiful low hanging full moon. Some kids had built 3 BIG snowmen, and even today (Saturday 13th) there is still a small pile of snow in the grass where they had stood. I saw on the news that the East side of Houston (Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, Baytown, Clear Lake, etc etc) got 4 inches of snow! Even Galveston got some snow.
It was amazing! All of my plants look fine. So far so good.
I couldn't believe it! Here's my herb garden -- not as much damage as I'd anticipated. It's time to prune; I'll cut off the dead stuff and wait for spring.
Here's my herb garden brigidlily....somewhere under the drift LOL
We are having sleet and freezing rain here in the DFW area, very cold and lots of accidents.
I hate the ice, it is so dangerous.
We had a party to attend tonight but it was close by. Fortunately we had only a few minutes of the nasty stuff and it melted. I see just a couple miles east it was very treacherous for a lot of people on I-35.
We also missed the snow here last week. NOT complaining Lord, just stating the facts. It looks horrible out there from what they are showing on the news.
I have a couple pots of geraniums that just won't give up. This temp dip may get them though. I have a few pansies planted in the pots too. They are doing better than the pansies! We have had several freezes, one enough to burst a few of my Frostweed last week, and now this one. I forgot to check the bigger Frostweed today, darn it. Maybe I will get lucky and it will still be there tomorrow.
We're supposed to get that freezing rain here overnight. The TV news was showing pictures of car accidents up your way....lots of them!
Just went out to check on green houses. It's 24* , sleeting and its sticking. The sidewalks SLICK!! Be safe and keep warm!!!!!!!! Jerry
Nice geranium Sheila, I looked out this morning and the bigger Frostweeds have really exploded.
I don't think they are about to melt, but I will go out soon and take some pictures.
Josephine.
It's 42 here right now. Brrrrrrrr.....so cold with drizzle. My vegetable garden is not happy. It is not supposed to be this cold here in December.
I noticed that my lantana had quite spectacularly done the whole frostweed ice thing last night. Too bad I was late for work and did not have time to run back in the house for a camera!
Dennis, the Lantana? I have never seen mine do it, will check that too.
I just came back from taking pictures, can't put them up till Frank gets home, I don't know how yet.
The temperature is 28 and every single Frostweed has exploded, even a tiny one about six inches tall.
But nothing on the Lantana and I have many of them, so yours is quite unique Dennis.
If I had a lantana do that, I'd be worried about it surviving! I've only seen it with the Frostweed. We didn't get cold enough down here for the ice thingies this time.
I finally got enough of the sheetrock dust cleaned up that I could turn on the heater!!! Whoohoo!!! (Yes, I'm still dealing with Ike repairs.) Wow, I never fully appreciated central heat before!
I got some great Frostweed bursts also. I will post on the thread for them.
Very good Sheila.
Here is the link with all the Frostweed "ice display" pics.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/931673/