Just an amatuer enthusiast...

I find my myself much more interested in hybridizing as time goes on, but mostly I just find it infinitely interesting to study them, many plants in general but snot so much on the normal or usual...

Just the amazing forms shapes and colors of haws blows me away, the proliferation of all these new hybrids really opens things up too.

I never tryied crossing them with my former collection, I'd usually just pop the flower stem off in hopes of an air pup, now I'm just gettin enough plants to lay with pollen!

I got a few more pics but I'm having trouble uploading...maybe tmrw...

Too early to say for sure, and raining so I didn't remove the sheet from mini garden yet, but I peeked under there a few minutes ago, on the Haw side. They look OK, feel firm. It got down to 14 here, and was below freezing for a span of about 48 hours, windy as if hurricane remnants were passing by (though from the north.) The sun was shining well most of the time it was really cold, that was probably the only good luck part.

Good, bad, and/or ugly, I'll post some pics when I'm able to uncover it.

I'm just glad mine were inside!
My greenhouse and garage got ROASTED
It was -12 here at the house by my thermometer...I couldn't put enough heat in the GH to really help and with the electric furnace running straight for 14 hours I didn't think it wise to leave the garage open to the house!

I'll prolly regret is sorely come spring...but I think most of the dry stored tropicals will be ok, and a quick peek in the GH and things looked rough but not a total disaster, something I'm more familiar with than I would like to be!

Yowza, that's almost 30 degrees colder than it got here, I'm sure that's a huge difference. I hope you are pleasantly surprised!

I took the sheets off the mini and there are a few losses, in the most exposed corner but not different looking enough overall to bother with a pic yet.

A Portulacaria afra and Sedum rubrotinctum look dead. Ever so gently touching leaves of Peperomia rotundifolia caused them to fall off, probably a sign of mortality. Definitely damaged but unclear if dead or alive: Schefflera elegantissima (a false Aralia cultivar,) Alternanthera ficoides, Iresine, a NOID Sedum(?).

Am I wrong to hope most Sedums could grow back if the roots weren't actually frozen, or am I mixing it up with tough Hylotelephiums ('Autumn Joy' and that ilk) too much in my mind?

Everything else has a normal color & texture, so far anyway. Definitely the Haws. Wish I knew if they actually froze or not, and if, like I expect for unknown reason, they would be mushy pudding already if damaged. The wall/window it's near couldn't have helped much, we closed off that room & it got down to 47 in there.

I had Portulacaria afra freeze with the leaves turning brown or falling off but I looked at the stems closely and found that some were still firm and some were shriveling and soft even though leaves were falling off, I cut off all the dead/soft stems and left the firm stems to see if they will grow new leaves. Same with sedum. If the stems were still firm I left them as is but if they were shriveled up I cut them back to the soil.

I put a couple more pics of this in mini forum (out of the closet,) but here's the Haw end. They all look/feel OK still. I'm really surprised & happy about that.

Tiffany those look great! I can't believe how well they survived the cold blast that you had!

Me either. Under a sheet again for mid-20's last night, who knows what winter has in store yet. They're definitely not tropical divas though, no doubt.

Get ready for another blast. I like the idea of building a big high fence along the Canadian border. Tear down the Mexican fence. Let the warm Mexican weather come in and block the cold Canadian weather out.

Bev, I keep forgetting to say, Portulacaria afra is one of the plants that looks frozen. Another piece of it closer to the wall looks maybe OK still, but the ones closest to the most exposed edge went brown/mushy.

Stush, not a fan of walls, but if strictly for weather, I say heck yeah! Having a real winter down here, I'm not far enough south... We keep looking at Belize.

How's the other Haws out there? Plants grow fastest when pics of them are put on forums often. Don't slack in your duties!

Tiffany that is too funny!! (regarding plants growing faster if there are photos!) I will take some tomorrow, because I do have a little one coming in at the top of one of the ones that I cut! So exciting!!

You know, that is the only part of this hobby that cost me nothing. Pictures that is. All digital and copy and past on my spread sheets and note book. Putting here also is at no cost. Just time. As soon as they grew a bit. I keep shouting at my plants, 'Keep Growing'. Some listen, some don't. Don't tell them, the ones that don't are the ones I want.

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I totally feel you about Haworthia! Here are three pics of my personal faves:
1. truncata
2. venosa
3. attenuata, fasciata, cuspidata, coarctata and I think that's a maculata in the upper right.

Wow, all you guys make me glad I live in Southern California. It's 11:45 am and 72 degrees. I get cold when it goes lower than 68, lol! The problem my plants experience have more to do with too much heat in the summertime. I'm the only person I know who has killed succulents from UNDERwatering them.

Kim, I get cold even before that! I'm with ya'! These outside plants continue to look alive, feel firm. Not sure about the one that's turned red. I think the one closest to the front is forming a new flower stalk. The one with the really thin tips has taken the worst hit in appearance.


...and I got some more dinos. The more I put in there, the more I like it.

Tiffany,
Still got most of my dinosaurs from when I was a kid. Even with my kids loosing lots of them and my grandkids loosing even more. I was lucky to find some and restock and buy some larger ones. Looking at yours brings back memories. Thank you.
Stush

Kim your plants look so healthy and nice!! Its tempting me to get some more, but I really want to cut down on indoor succulents!!
Tiffany yours look good! I'm really impressed with your weather this year, they came through with flying colors!!
I have my original first "Hot Wheels" car! I would love a real car like this!
(its a 1970 mini cooper, sparkly bronze color!!)

gg5 said:Kim your plants look so healthy and nice!! Its tempting me to get some more, but I really want to cut down on indoor succulents!!
Tiffany yours look good! I'm really impressed with your weather this year, they came through with flying colors!!
I have my original first "Hot Wheels" car! I would love a real car like this!
(its a 1970 mini cooper, sparkly bronze color!!)

They're all growing outside!

Thanks for sharing photos!! Very nice!

Finally here is my updated photo of a pot placed outside last week...Just before we got blazing sun for several days so their looking shocked but I know they'll bounce back! In the front you can see the one that I cut off is growing a new top, and the top that I cut off, planted next to it is looking healthy and has great roots!