Debbie, you brought a smile to my face with your freeze excitment. It takes another hot weather gardener to understand that state of mind - and I do :-) Last year we had a snow shower that lasted for about 20 minutes where we live. This was something that hadn't happened here for the last 40 years or so, so I had never witnessed it. You should have seen me rushing for the camera and trying to photograph these pathetic small snowflakes, LOL! It was all over the news as well...

Enjoy your freezing weather and the lunch in the company of your loved ones. Say happy birthday from me to your DIL.

Eduarda

Oh yeah, I enjoy cold crip weather too....THROUGH THE WINDOW! LOL. The wireless themometor says it's now -13 F. Burrrr...I'm staying in here by the fire and worrying about all the critters out in the yard.

Hope you enjoyed your luncheon as well as your day, Debbie.

MeMo

Debbie, I LOVE the bejeweled wintersweet.
(I will refrain from commenting on the nuttiness of you hot weather folks ;-)

Patti, I guess we all enjoy and lust after what we haven't got, don't we? You should see the northern European tourists in the Algarve. They bake in the beach until they are the color of boiled lobsters, many ending up in ER! They go nuts with the hot weather and ooh and aah about the banana and palm trees, LOL! Of course, we take all of these for granted and don't even give them a second look. Banana trees are one of my (few) gardening pet peeves, actually, LOL!

Eduarda

LOL Eduarda, My Alaska bil never wears a shirt when he comes to California.

This morning the thermometer says 20. : ) First thing dh said was are you going outside? I will lose some plants this year; I did not take this seriously enough until it was too late, but I don't grow too many things that can't take frost. My rancher friends are in trouble though. This is a huge citrus area.

We were supposed to have snow but the storm bypassed us. Hopefully it really is an el nino year because so far we have only had one inch of rain since July 1.

Thanks for the well wishes. It was a lovely day altogether yesterday and I just enjoyed it since it was so cold. The frost on our front grass never melted! I had a nice stroll downtown in the crisp air and got dil a cutsey little gift in a cutesy little shop, and only moms of boys can understand how fun that is : )

Yes, we certainly DO lust after what we don't have!!!
I confess to making more than one trip to the local college greenhouses
JUST TO SEE THE BANANA TREES!!
I LOVE them! haha!

I draw the line at letting the sun fry me though. It's big hats and long sleeves for this pale face!
Patti

You'll get a kick out of this, Patti. :-)

Snow flurries are so rare around here, and even rarer is a small accumulation. When my sons were in elementary school, the teachers would stop their planned lessons to take the kids outside to enjoy the snow! It's so cute to watch kids try to make snow angels with about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground.

I have to confess that my co-workers and I also press our noses against the window to watch the snow fall, even me who grew up in upstate New York.

We're having a freezing cold weekend, too. So far we have had a lot of rain, thankfully, but very little freezing rain ( so far). I'm appliqueing a pillow, reading, watching football on tv and enjoying the rain.

Marilyn

Marilyn, I can top your story LOL : ) When it snowed here enough to stay on the ground, about 8 years ago, and the only time in maybe 50 years here, our city shut down. 2-3 inches of snow and all the schools closed, along with city and county govt and many other places of business. The guy across the street got out his huskies and hitched them to a sled and gave all the neighbor kids rides up and down the street. It was a major celebration day for the whole town.

That's too funny, Debbie! I bet all the kids on your street had a great time, and what a special memory for everyone.

There's something about a snowfall, or ice storm, that brings out the kid in everyone. It's a hoot to see some of the make shift sleds people come up with, too. Kids, and I'm talking high school and college kids, too, take school cafeteria trays and head to the nearest incline to go sledding. ( Not too many hills around here!) :-) I've also seen kids and adults use garbage can lids, as well. LOL

Marilyn

"I'm appliqueing a pillow, reading, watching football on tv and enjoying the rain."

Sounds good to me, Marilyn! Today I've cooked some nice food, and have been knitting by the fireplace. Not nearly as cold as you all, but the fire sure does feels good. And not a banana tree in sight, Patti, LOL! If it snowed here most certainly schools would be closed and the local huskies would get the time of their life!

Eduarda

You guys are cracking me up!

Actually this is a record setting winter here with no snow so far. The skiers and snowmobilers are in misery, so with the first snowfall we'll probably have school cancellations and the snow-lovers will be doing some crazy celebrating here too!

It's been a miserable rainy, cold day. I made a huge pot of stew this morning, some of which I'll take to my parents. Then tomorrow I won't have to cook and I can just be a bum and make garden plans.

We're supposed to get that freezing stuff tomorrow, Marilyn. Fortunately it's the M L King holiday and not too many people will have to be out on those treacherous roads.

Patti

I guess I didn't realize the cold would reach down here in So Cal, but it had! As I went around spraying my roses with dormant oil this afternoon, I noticed freeze damage on my heliotrope, plectranthus, duranta, evolvulus, pelargoniums, tomatoes, and the new growth on the lemon and lime trees. The tomatoes were pretty much done anyway, but do I just trim off the damaged parts of the perennials?

Anne (who's lived a sheltered life when it comes to frost!)

We've been in the single digits every morning since Thursday. BRRRR!!!!! We actually made it to 30 today at around 2 p.m. but then the temps started dropping shortly after. It's about 18 right now. The fabricators doing my soapstone counters were here working outside in this weather. OMGosh, I felt so bad for them. The water line to their wet saw even froze. Then our fire sprinklers in the garage attic broke. We got it capped off for now and the SS guys got their saw running but it was touch and go for a bit. They'll be back tomorrow and we should be a few degrees warmer. Like that really matters when it's in the teens. lol I did my best to keep everyone warm with breakfast burritos, hot cocoa, brownies and cinnamon bread. They said it was the most they've ever eaten on a job. Well, I'll do just about anything to keep them working and have counters and running water in my kitchen again. : )

Anne, you can trim off the damage but you might as well cut them back. They should be done with their growth cycle for now. I cut all mine back last week. Some are completely gone - no sign they ever live happily in my gardens. But they do that up here in the colder areas.

Marilyn, enjoy that rain. You deserve it after that long dry summer you had.

Patti, stay safe and off the roads if you can. : )

Diana

I'd say 85% of my garden is a goner. We have had 5 straight days of Arctic blasts, high winds and NO moisture in the air what so ever.

Californians . . .water your plants deeply. Because of the dry conditions the frost does more damage with dehydrated plants. Keep a faucet on slow drip to avoid frozen pipes.

Edna,

I just came in from checking my garden, too. I think we will be ok only because we were fortunate to have a large amount of rain fall just before the freeze, but only time will tell. On the other hand, everything has been so weakened by the drought that maybe they are more damaged than they appear to be. :-(

Of course I had to check my sweet peas, first and foremost, and they appear to be ok. :-)

I'll keep a good thought for you and everyone who is experiencing this arctic blast. Hoping that we all make it through o.k.

(((((((((( Edna )))))))))))

Marilyn

Edna, I don't think your garden is a goner. The plants have just died back to the ground and you're just not used to seeing what perennials really do in such cold temps. I bet you'll be amazed when the warmer temps come around - and they will - and you see lots of new green growth. : )

Well, it is about 22 degrees and my soapstone guy is here again working diligently. His partner couldn't make it so who knows how much he can carry in on his own. A small piece can easily weigh a few hundred pounds. I have a feeling things won't get finished until tomorrow but I see light at the end of the tunnel! : )

Diana

Thanks, Diana. I will trim these back. Looking forward to seeing pics of your beautiful new kitchen!

Marilyn, amazingly enough, my sweetpeas are completely unfazed by the temps :-)

Anne

Well, here in No CA it has been really cold! (for us!) Low 20s!
We thought we had fixed the problem of the pipes freezing last month, but apparently NOT!!! (and BTW dances, leaving the water dripping has never worked when it gets this cold)
Dog dish and fish pond each had about 1/4-1/2 inch of ice the last 3 days.
Luckily, I had already put frost sensitive plants into my new greenhouse.
I'm hoping it warms up tonight cause I can't STAND not having a shower before work!

Brrrr....fourth night now of very cold. It has been about 20 here the last two mornings.

Edna, I agree with Diana, although you do have quite a few softies there. Sweet peas take the frost with no effort.

I am delighted though to see the Leonorus does not like cold any better than hot. It is leaving here! : )

Anne, I wondered how cold you would get.

Diana, the counters sound awesome. You are going to have to make lots of yummy breads now. : )

This morning the pond was frozen and the bird's were ice skating in the bird bath.

Debbie, I forgot to say....poor little toad. I wonder if the slugs froze?

Diana, I so hope your right. This is the worst freeze we've ever had in this area without moisture. My poor Brug looks like it's dead, the stems are completely shriveled. Sweet Peas are doing just fine. I love those hardy little guys. You have such a big heart, I'm sure those soapstone workers would do anything for you. BTW, I just got your Christmas card, wrapped in a plastic bag *lol* looks like it orbited the earth *lol*. The card was a little torn but my book marker is just a cute as can be.

Ninjabut, I beg to differ. DB lives in Lassen county and never had frozen pipes when he leaves the faucet dripping.

I hope those of you who aren't used to freezing temps don't suffer too badly. Those poor fruit farmers!

We lived in Oklahoma for two winters and I never will forget how terrifying it was to be on the road with drivers who obviously knew nothing about "black ice" or other treacherous winter conditions as they whizzed by going 70mph.

This county has been spared from the worst of the ice storm. My mom lives 30miles north and there has been a lot of damage in her area from frozen tree branches snapping and bringing down power lines etc. She still has power thank goodness and the road crews have been sanding the roads so I shouldn't have any problems getting there this morning.

I'm wondering about Tracy and some others CG'ers that were in the storms path. Praying that all is well.

Edna, I think your plants will be fine too. Only flowers, fruits etc. or exposed leaves are harmed in general. What kills our plants here in the north is the freezing and thawing and freezing and thawing. Don't know about your slugs though.
Maybe Diana can make them some teeny-tiny slug quilts. :-)

I agree with the dripping faucets helping. Also opening the cabinet doors where pipes are will allow heat from the room to warm the pipes. Here is some information from the American Red Cross:

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Cross Facts about frozen pipes

It was 24 when I got up this morning. It is always a few degrees cooler out here than in San Antonio. Ice, but no snow. They are telling us to stay off the roads if we don't HAVE to be somewhere. I certainly think that is a good idea. If I were a flower, I would be an orange blossom. I hate cold.

I heard this morning friends have lost 100% of their lemon crop and 95% of their navel oranges. Husband has had only 2 hours sleep a day since Thursday. The whole family is working night and day to save the trees at this point. Wife had surgery on both feet last week and has a severely handicapped daughter she cannot get up to care for. Talk about stress!

I got up this morning to a subtle pink sunrise over the snowcapped Sierra, with the smallest sliver of a moon I have ever seen. Beautiful!

Debbie, so sorry for your friends. How heartsick they must be. I had surgery on both feet once, but DH looked after me, and we have no children. How frustrated and helpless the wife must feel; my heart goes out to her.

Debbie,

Thanks for your sunny disposition that could melt any freeze! In the back garden photo, is that a soaker hose or are you marking new beds? If it is, love the design!

Estelle