Thursday night was the first really cold night since last winter. The local television station reported that the low temperature for Thursday night was 21, setting a record, beating out the standing low record of 23. The cold did quite a number on a lot of plants. The elephant tree at the pond is definitely feeling the effects of the cold as its leaves and trunk have shriveled from their ten foot height to ground level. I have to find out what to do with it: whether to cut it down to the pot level or just trim the leaves. I know what to do with the hydrangeas; I just leave them alone, and they will return next spring. A lot of the annuals on the deck are ready for the recycle bin. We did save some though, the ferns made it okay since I covered them. The rest are looking pretty sad, and so tomorrow, Kathy and I have scheduled the great seasonal flower turn over. We have remembered to plant the daffodils and tulips this month, though. Up until this year, I have always waited until it was too late to plant them so they would be ready for spring. I was determined this year to get them in the ground at the right time, and I succeeded.
I have moved my writing desk to a room at the back of the house where I have a great view out of one window into the back yard. Since the cold snap, the squirrels, cardinals, and house wrens have been really busy, scurrying back and forth from the woods to the feeders. I may have mentioned this before, but the next-door neighbor cut down all the trees in his yard. Consequently, we inherited all the squirrels that used to live next door. I have now about 20 squirrels ( I kid you not) that have decided that the top of the hill on Sumac is a great place to hang out. They are driving the dogs crazy, since it is a canine challenge to chase all of them out of the yard whenever they go out the back door.
By the way, all the plants that I planted for my winter garden have been eaten or dug up by the various fauna in the neighborhood. Even the cardinals helped, as I watched them calmly pulling up carrot plants this afternoon. I did not know that cardinals fed on carrots, but they made the initial path for destruction, completed by the dogs that decided that this particular part of the raised bed contained something especially tasty and dug it up. So the carrots went the way of the Brussels sprouts, the broccoli, the lettuce, and the cabbage. All gone. I am a dismal failure in my first effort at winter gardening,but did I mention the daffodils!
In honor of Tom Clancy, I have started rereading his Jack Ryan novel series. I had forgotten just how good The Hunt for Red October is. I am really enjoying it-really the first novel I have enjoyed this much in a long time. I have even opted to read it in paperback rather than on the Kindle. Just call me Luddite!
Red Clay and Sand 