A break in the cold!

After our gorgeous 60 degree days in early February, this cold winter week feels like Winter's last hurrah.  A whole week of temperatures in the thirties, with a few days dipping below freezing.  





I faithfully covered up all of my cold-sensitive plants and hoped they'd make it through.

Today we have a brief break in the cold, with temperatures expected to get into the high 50s... until a cold front comes through again tomorrow.  

So I went outside to pull back the covers and see what made it...  And it looks like almost everything did! (And I really hope I am not jinxing myself into the next few days of cold killing everything)



The guy I was most concerned about was my poor little tomato that I planted in a bout of optimism on February 13th. 

I covered him with a tarp, and he still looks pretty good. Not a whole lot of growth, but it is still early.

The other tomato I planted died shortly after planting due to a tarp accident :o(

And all of my seedlings seem to have weathered this last storm.  The carrots are starting to really come up, and the radishes held up just fine!

The plum tree still has it budding leaves!  And the fig seems okay- though the wet weight of the sheet covering did break off a branch :o(

And my plumbago.  Ahh, the love of my garden, despite its total unwillingness to grow here.  Plumbago number 5, as I like to call it, is the second planted in the side bed.  (One through three were planted in the porch bed)  P4 was planted a little too deep in the shade.  I moved it out into more sun and it started to do pretty good (read: didn't die) ... until last year's incredibly low temps.  So in 2014, I replaced P4 with P5.  It actually did better than any previous version, and so far has made it through the winter... sort of. 

Honestly, when this one tanks, I think I am just going to give up on this plant. It requires too much babying.  Most of the green below is weeds, but there are a few leaves left at the base of the plant...

But that is not all, things are actually in bloom!

My two Dianthus Allwoodii Sarah that I planted last June made it through the hot summer, and now have mostly made it through the winter.  One plant is actually in bloom!  This plant (unlike the previously mentioned one) has taken no special care or attention.  I bought it at Home Depot instead of a real nursery, knowing nothing about it.  It was probably on sale ;o) But if I see more, I think I'll pick them up.

And from the picture at the top of the page, I noticed one sweet bud on my rose bush (the one I did not trim back this year)