It was nearly 65 here yesterday. I've been cutting wood for weeks now, and there is no sap flow. However, my Chester and Prime Jim blackberries still have a few green leaves, and the daffodils are now 3 inches tall.

Thanks for the report, Ken. I know Bartje and she deserves a good rose! She was the Director of the Gardens as the Pasadena Tournament House, home of the Tournament of Roses, for many years and a lovelier lady you would be hard pressed to find! Determined, strong-willed, resourceful, a real "Force of Nature" and every bit a lady, bless her! Kim

I don't know how you have time to do ALL THE THINGS YOU DO! I forgot to ask how the media coverage of you school butterfly garden went. The last I heard was that you and Bill, and maybe a volunteer or two, were off to get the garden ready for the cameras. I'll bet the summer went way too fast for you. mike

Jonathan, it's been a month since your original post, and I was wondering how your fig trees are doing now, and if you did anything to help them recover. Do you think they will still make a crop later this summer? I'm also in Austin, and my two young Celeste figs were frozen back twice since fall. One is about 3 feet tall and the other about 2 feet tall, planted in early 2005 so they were not established. Up here in far NW Austin we had another light freeze after the second set of leaves came out. At least 2-6 inches of each branch tip died. There's new leaf growth coming from the side buds, but no fruit buds. The smaller fig plant is finally looking bouncy again, but the older one is not. I lost some other plants that had been around for years - it seems that the incredibly hot, dry September made them stressed, and when they started to recover in mid-October the result was a badly-timed growth spurt. Then the poor things were plunged into freezing temperatures at the beginning of November, a month earlier than usual. Then again, what's normal around here anyway! Annie