Mr. Freeze came and went and with him also went most of the leaves on my Japanese maples.  Even covered, at 25F, it was just too cold for them.  Perhaps, if this happens next year, I'll string Christmas lights under the sheets and save the foliage.  It's a thought. I could focus on this, but instead, I think we'll look at what is beautiful and what was saved. I covered most of the Heucheras, but even those I didn't cover did well.   When the landscaper redid the front garden, he left me most of his containers.  I used the three and five gallon pots to great effect, covering the most delicate of flowers.  The black pots were fantastic insulators.  Too bad there weren't pots big enough for the maples.  The visualization of that just makes me laugh. Most of the tulips survived.  Some were a little worse for wear, but...

Dear Ones, As I write this, the wind is howling around the corner of my oh, so, cozy kitchen, rattling the windowpanes.  After an 80F degree day yesterday, last night, another nasty Canadian cold front snuck across the Oklahoma border.  The forecasters are again talking about snow for the northwest part of the state.  I do love the Canadians, but I find their weather abhorrent, especially in April.  That's why I live in Oklahoma where it's usually warm, sometimes even during winter. It's Palm Sunday, and all through Mass, I dreamed of warmer climes than mine.  Tonight's low is supposed to be 31F.  Not so bad really when you consider Tuesday's projected low of 24F.  HH is busy working at the Diva's ancient school today (rebuilding the main staircase), so guess who got to help me cover plants? Even though they griped and complained throughout, those three were troopers in...

Today, I am very cranky.  If you don't want to read further, I completely understand. "Why?" you ask. Well, central Oklahoma had another freeze last night, and what wasn't frozen was heavily frosted a la winter birthday cake.  For Pete's sake, it's April 3rd already, and I live in USDA Zone 7. It's 43F right now (10:00 a.m.) with a projected high of 67F.  On Saturday, the high is supposed to be 78F.   Sounds nice, but do you see all of those temperatures bouncing around like Mexican jumping beans?  It's hard on the plants, and on gardeners.  Normally, I worry about the projected lows until April 15th, but this is the craziest spring of my memory.  We've had really balmy days, followed by high winds and hail.  We had snow last week, and now, get this, the northwest part of the state (where the heaviest snowfall was) is warmer...

Last week's freeze damage is just now starting to show. I didn't cover this Japanese maple located in the front bed because I thought it was close enough to the house and had plenty of protection. Another variety, 'Crimson Queen,' nearby sustained no damage, but this one was badly hurt. It is sad, but this is how things sometimes go, and when I started this blog, I promised to share the good and the bad.  The good news is the tree lives, and some leaves weren't injured. A few of the hostas in the back garden suffered too, especially these lime green ones.  They look just like the wilted lettuce at the back of my fridge. The remaining blooms on the Jane magnolia, along with those tulips and daffodils I didn't bring in, look pretty bad.  Certain ferns, like my black-stemmed maidenhair also suffered. So, where do we go from...