Sherry - I saw Florida 'in the pink' on the Weather Channel.

Here, it was 11 degrees when I woke, a far cry from the 110 degree weather we had this past summer.

I lost some yews (zone pushing) due to the high temps; I'm certain I've now lost my brugmansia due to this cold. My roses, though cold, seem to have weathered it all. :)

Stay warm! One look at my frozen pond and I crank up the heat. Though I'm starting to get cabin fever...

Snow and cold in Florida----We are supposed to be used to it here in Pa but as I get older it seems to get COLDER.

holleygarden, I think your brugmansia is just dead to the ground and will come back. They do that here. Too bad about your yews. This cold is amazing. It's almost noon and still only 34 degrees. Ridiculous! The 'snow' on the roof melted and has refrozen on Maman Cochet's leaves that hang under the eaves. Oh, well, this too shall pass.

Florence, I'm happily surprised to see all the green leaves on my roses in this 'arctic' weather. They really are evergreen! But all the other annuals/perennials are mush. The daylily leaves good though.

Sherry

Wow -- A first since Jan 19, 1977! No snow (so far) here in Lakeland -- just cold rain.

Well, I have to take that back -- there's a video on the Lakeland Ledger -- apparently it did snow here during the night, right near my parents' house. Sorry I did not see it.

Wow, Malcolm, I saw those photos. Lakeland got a lot more than we did.

Sherry

Snow in Florida, huh? Just doesn't seem right.
It's been so unusually cold here the last couple of nights, I'm not thinking about the roses anymore ... I've been just hoping the water pipes don't burst.

Randy

Randy, I thought of that this morning - frozen pipes, that is. But ours are fine. Last year they froze (but didn't break), and it took a few hours to get running water. Just made me late for work.

Sherry

Haaaa I saw also, I would love just a dusting in St Pete ... good luck on that but I would be snapping pictures.

Sherry who thought that teas in Florida would be zone pushing? We are comparatively warm here 48 at noon and the lows should be around 40 tonight.

Lance

Sherry: yup thats the stuff, its all I've see on the news the last couple of days. Hope you all are getting threw ok, we're use to it here..

Mark

I was just at Lowe's to check out irrigation stuff. Naturally, couldn't resist going to the garden department. That poor sales lady there looked like an icicle. It's still only 35 degrees - our high for the day!!! Everyone was saying "This is ridiculous!" like it was a bad joke on us. Due to their plant losses, I got flats of 18 dianthus & begonias for 50 cents each, 4" pots of petunias for 10 cents, 6" pots of Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' for 50 cents each. I may go back tomorrow since tonight is going to be even worse.

This weather has to be setting major records. Our wind chill is predicted to be 10 - 15 tonight. Ridiculous!

Sherry

Sun's out. Clouds gone. Uh-oh.

Sherry

It's been ridiculously cold here for two weeks...minus 6F for the better part of two weeks at night...only warming to a little above zero during the day. A heat wave is forecasted for our area for next Thursday...we're getting to 35F...maybe it will melt some of the 8-10" of snow on the ground...but then it will be a major mudhole around here.

I so despise winter...and the electric/gas bills that go along with it.

Sherry - I so hope my brugmansia comes back next year. It did last year, but this year is so much colder, I wasn't sure it would.

DH tried for several years to convince me to move to Colorado. Too cold, I insisted. Now he's glad we stayed in *hot* Texas. lol

I am curious about the records there in Florida. Didn't it get cold there in the 80's? Here, I can remember around 1982-ish? the high was under 32 for several days. We 'ice skated' on the pond that my grandfather said he had never seen frozen solid before. (That pond has now been enlarged.)

Just had to send an email to my family in the southeast--we're warmer right now in the Seattle area than they are in Miami!

Snow in Florida is unusual, but not totally unheard of. I do remember some years back about seeing snow in Miami during one really cold blast. We have had subzero temps for several nights, but it is supposed to warm up some. While it is true that the cold puts the agricultural crops at risk, there can be one side benefit. That is killing off some extra bad insect pests for the next season. You might want to keep an eye open to see if the insect pests are down a bit next season. You might even set up a bird feeder to help the birds to have food to keep warm if they don't have anything to eat. Try to keep warm.

Sorry, guys for sending you our weather. It was 20 below last week but now its a balmy 26 degrees at night. Sposed to hit 40 by Wednesday with no snow predicted this week.
Biggest problem right now is the Swine flu. I'm in hog heaven right now. I've been turned into sausage, and everything I say is a bunch of baloney. You cannot get over this thing. Days turn into weeks and you start to wish somebody would fry your bacon and get it over with.
Yep, ghastly.
Frozen pipe tip: Everybody here who has a trailer house leaves the cold water on a dribble. The kitchen sink is the most vulnerable. Put plastic over the window. There are also heat tapes that plug in to wrap pipes with.You might have to have them Fed-Exed, though.

Kaylah,
If only your flu could be as entertaining for you as you've made it for us! Get well soon!

Growing up in north Florida, and then attending college in Gainesville in the middle of the state, I remember plenty of hard freezes and a few snowfalls. Florida's not quite the balmy tropical place people think it is. You probably get lower lows than we do here. But the average temperature in Florida is a lot higher: you don't get week after week of temperatures that go from the high twenties to the low forties. And I bet Floridians aren't still lighting fires in the morning in early May.
I always thought those frosty mornings were beautiful: a clear sky, a heavy frost on the ground, and the piercing gold sun rising above the horizon and glittering through the dark leafless trees.

Don't worry Sherry, it'll pass, and the roses will be fine.

Melissa

Sherry,
Just to chime in, in my area at least, we are getting a lot of promo roses, I have checked most of the Home Depots, Lowes etc in the Bay. 7$ for most of the 2 gallons that are not knockouts.?. Some have been newer ones, like Julia Childs and a few Austins I have, but some are "older HT's"

When I picked up 16 roses last weekend, the lady looked at me and asked if I came out in the cold weather just to get roses .... Sure did !

That is one good thing about being here in Fl this time of year, is you can get roses. Now if it would warm up. Next week will be a perfect time to plant for me!!!!!

Well, lookin4you2xist, what roses did you get?

Bustopher, I'll give the birdfeeder some thought, but I'm afraid the squirrels get more than the birds. Man has walked on the moon but can't invent a squirrel-proof birdfeeder. My next door neighbor feeds them though so they'll be fine.

Kaylah, I fervently hope that nasty stuff leaves you soon. Does chicken soup help?

Melissa, our chilly mornings will not be the same after reading your poetical rendition. And yes, the cooler days pass all to quickly here.

Sherry