Ahhhh Maria....I hear you. I am beginning to think that this area has a deep freeze every 5 years or so. I went out the other day and checked with a small knife and tested my dormant (or dead) plants too. I lost some cactus plants too and two others...and I am really hoping my palm tree is okay. It was so beautiful and now it looks ugly... it "had" some green color coming out the middle but that was before the freezing weather arrived. The desert willow tree is still alive so that is wonderful news although it is about 3' high and looks like a twig. I keep looking at my raised bed for any bulbs growing. Nothing so far. My romaine and spinach are still growing good. Might have enough for a very small salad soon...LOL the plants are 3-4" tall.
So..like you I am waiting for spring and I can only hope we will get one this year instead of going right into summer.

Beca

Beca, the first winter we spent in Las Vegas, sixteen years ago, they had record breaking cold temperatures down to 10 d. F. The palm trees all over looked terrible. We filmed the volcano at the Mirage and EWW the palm trees looked so bad but they recovered. I'm sure yours will to. I bet your desert willow won't be small long. We have one too and it grows like a weed and is a great bloom factory in the hot summer. Our paper whites have been blooming for about a month now and I think I see one remenant of some tulips planted two years ago is popping up. I thought they were all dead.

Good luck on your greens, after Mr. Bunny kept breaking into our back yard I finally dug up what was left of our winter crop and fed them to the horses. I'd rather them get it than that darn wabbit.

Still haven't decided what to give up on from frost damage and what to try to save but after a few trips to the nurserty I'm sure there will be more than enough replacements to go around!

Maria

Hi Maria

I giggled about your Mr Bunny break-ins...I totally understand though. I would do the same thing. Take control of the situation..and beat Mr Bunny at his game. We are very lucky they haven't discovered a way to get in here "yet"...
I pruned my roses yesterday and painted the cuts with glue. The rest of my outside container plants in the backyard are dead...wait-I do have a few pansies growing still :):) I hope the palm tree is ok-thanks for your thoughts about it. Good to hear about the desert willow tree too-that's why we bought it though.
I can't imagine what LV used to look like with 10 degree weather. Interesting to hear your stories. WOW!!
We are coming into Vegas tomorrow and I will have time to go to a nursery or two alone (Plant World and Star) so that is exciting for me. :):) Not sure if there will be anything worth buying but I will look ;)
I've also been playing in the sunroom. It needs it. Would you believe that I have a few impatient plants (with flowers)??? Most have kicked. Interesting, huh? Still have lots to do in it. I want shelves on the wall and we need to put sun heat/glare film on the windows too.
Soo we hang in for awhile yet and soon we will be planting,etc...

Beca~

Beca,

If you're going to be at plant world you really ought to go down Charleston a little further to where the Library and Community college are to the college garden. It is a cool little place with so many plants that you just won't find at Star. Also they have very good people working there who garden here and have good advice.

Pansies do love the cool weather. I am not such a fan of them but usually have some of thier more petite relative, violas, in a pot in the winter and they are blooming happily for us now. I now have a routine when it starts getting dark for the rabbits. I make sure the gates are closed and properly fortified and then I run around with plastic pots from plants I've bought and cover the things they've been munching and then uncover them the next morning. For the bigger stuff I have wire around them. Fortunately most of my front yard are things like Salvias and Agastaches that are so fragrant they don't want to eat them or Shrubs that are big enough to be out of thier way.

Enjoy your trip, Maria

Maria-
I went to Plant World yesterday afternoon just to see "if" they had any new stuff (but knowing they probably wouldn't). I was right. They were quite empty. They had a few good looking pansies & violas but that was it for that area that usually has lots more. I walked the whole place...wanting to see any desert willow trees that were bigger then our "little twig" we have now. Thry had some so that was cool. Saw some beautiful cactus too...in a beautiful deep blue color I have never seen before!! It was one of those tall & round "interesting" cacti shapes (LOL)...no name on any of them and I can't find a photo of one like it either. I know it won't be there when I go back. I've just never seen such a beautifuil blue colored cacti before. I did manage to look at the bareroot roses!! Just beautiful colors,etc...I am going to buy a few more to add to my small collection here.
You are smarter then your bunnies Maria!! I can see you running around getting ready for the night time. LOL. The things we do for our babies.
OK gotta get out to the sunroom and plant some seeds now.

Beca~

I have two indoor/outdoor recording thermometer, one from RadioShack and one from WallMart. They record within four degrees of each other on the cold end and about the same on the hot end. Yesterday, in the shade below a south facing deck I recorded 12°F to 67°F

When I lived in North Central (Or is that one word, Northcentral?) Nevada back in '97 or so this diurnal variation cursed me. Something to think about while you are thinking.

Yikes Albert!!!!!!! "12" to 67 in one day......I am very happy to be here where it's 29-60!! Who cares what it's called. 12 degrees is cold. (I can just hear the other people in colder places smiling when I type that but "whatever")Hang in there Albert.
It's windy again today. Just think....soon we will be whinning how tired we all are from the heat. LOL.

Beca~

Well Albert, after living in the mountains of Colorado for ten years and seeing temperatures regularly go to zero and below every winter it makes me grateful for the winters we have here. In about four months of course this will be forgotten as I contemplate what kind of crazy people live somewhere that can be 112 F for weeks and cool down at night to a balmy 90.

This great weather we're having now is making me think of an early spring but things can change fast.

Maria

Hey I found out what that cactus was that I had discovered. It's called a Pilosocereus Azureus Colunm!! Also called a Blue Candle. It's a tropical American native..particularly valued for their bright blue green coloration. So nice to finally find out what this one was called.

Beca