Here in Ohio Immortality always reblooms for us. It was blooming yesterday, but we just got a cold snap and the season's over. Reblooms are always a nice bonus.

Very pretty! We've had several hard freezes, my iris were still going strong after the first couple, but 2 hard frosts two nights in a row seemed to do them in. I had Daughter of Stars, Harvest of Memories, and Earl of Essex blooming heavily. I had others that bloomed, but these did the best. I cut most of them almost 2 weeks before Thanksgiving & brought them in, I enjoyed them until last Friday & got tired of changing the water & cutting back the dead buds. There were other stems out in the garden & I meant to bring them in, but forgot.

Jasmine, my birds are well enclosed inside a pretty secure 8'x24' pen, with a 4'x5' coop near the back end. We put chicken wire across the top and on the ground around the pen, and there's corrugated metal roofing over 16' of the coop-end. Not too many predators come into our yard ... our dog pretty much keeps them out, but then she's the predator. She'd swoop on these ladies any chance she'd get!! The only things that got in the pen were a scrub jay and a brown towhee that slipped in under the chicken wire over the front end of the pen. We had forgotten to wire together a couple of sections at the overlaps and the posts we used to prop inside last winter to prevent the tarps from filling up overhead, lifted up the gap and made a couple of small openings on top. The poor birdies (on separate occasions) were freaking out, trying to get out. After the second time, we went back and wired the gaps shut, so nothing can get in from overhead, predator or not! Oh we have had a rat get inside the pen last winter, but it didn't do any damage or anything. I saw its little beadie eyes up on the top of the coop one night when it was dark out there. Not sure what it was doing there, but if the girls would've seen it, or it would've gotten in with them, I'm sure they would've chased it out or eaten it if they caught it!

Lots and lots of Aloe stems but nothing is opening yet. Late this year! Aloe thraskii is the closest. The oldest Aloe ferox is getting there. It was very stressed the last couple of years because a huge Agave marmorata was pushing on it. The Agave has flowered and been removed, so now ferox can be happier again. I like the "skirt" of dried leaves. A lot of people pull them off, but the old leaves protect the trunk from hot summer sun.