winter weather

Like the rest of California, we've had some crazy cold weather - night time lows in the single digits and teens, and barely getting above freezing during the day. Given that we're technically zone 9A now, that's very unusual. Today was my first chance to take a look at what this Arctic front had done to my garden. It was pretty sad - that's what I get for not putting on all the frost blankets I should have...


Frost-bitten everything...

 The sedum x rubrotinctum in the upper left is usually OK with just the leaves from my neighbor's tree covering it, so it should recover in the spring... the plants in the both center pictures will go back under a blanket, and hopefully the centers and pups will stay alive in the spring. The Crassula coccinea 'Campfire' might be done for though. And a lot of the branches on the Feathery Cassia look grey - I'm hoping the plant will be OK, although the blossoms might not be.

My saddest loss was due to my own stupidity:

I didn't get home in time to cover him...

 My Pachycereus schottii f. monstrosus is black. :( They're hardy to 20 deg F (about), and I didn't get home in time to cover it or move it indoors. Sigh.

Some things actually look almost pretty with the winter damage:

This succulent is almost translucent. And probably dead.

 But not all is lost! Most of the plants are fine, even some that I wasn't sure about. Most of the (soon-to-be) larger agave are fine, and the Callistemon 'Little John' is under a frost blanket, and looks OK.



Agave ovatifolia is happy, even with a bit of water from the sprinklers 

Both Optunias are fine, and this one has taken on even more purple tones

 And apparently winter completely missed my crazy Pleiospilos nelii, which is getting ready to flower:

Don't tell it that it's technically a zone 9-10 plant...

It's been getting warmer this week - but I'm leaving the blankets on for the next few days. I hope spring gets here soon!