I had no idea about cedars and junipers exploding. Wow! Do you know how many junipers are used as bedding in front of homes? We once had 15 feet in front of our house. Glad I removed them.

4 mature Crepe Myrtles had to come down last year. They were not a fire hazard as far as I know. But they were planted too close to the house. They had been "murdered" for 3-4 years before we moved in. We helped it to heal it's wounds and tried as best we could to help them become nice trees. They grew even closer to the house. I miss them. I should have removed them when they were 5 years old. But I just had to try. They never were really happy where they were. I wish people would research about plants, trees and shrubs before planting. There is a house down the street that has a pittosporum right in the middle of the yard. It grew into a giant, wild mass of green variegation 10-12 feet tall and about as wide, smack dab in the middle of the lawn without any other landscaping. Then they cut it almost down to the ground. It never grew after that and eventually died. Then there is the juniper in the middle of another lawn. shrug Not only does it look funny, but it's funny that these things are allowed to grow looking even more funny.

@ShadyGreenThumb What we call cedar trees here are actually Ashe junipers. Junipers are what give lots of us "cedar fever" beginning each December, and running through March. They are also water hogs.

I'm guilty of buying the wrong size crepe myrtles. I grew up with crepe myrtles all over our town in MS. I never gave it much thought. The ones we bought for this front yard turned into giants. We had to take them out. And yes, we planted them too close to the house!

Texas weather again. 70sF for today and Sat, then we are back to winter with at least one night predicted down to around 21F if it doesn't change. Really a LOT cooler predicted for next week. I'm already giving my back a pep talk in preparation. Those lows will fill the garage and porch back up again.

Please keep the cold weather up there, @needrain. It feels like spring here, but the clouds are gathering.

Sunny with blue skies today. A view from my desk window, some of my newly cleaned up trees

Looking good!

Miserable weather. A cold rain at the moment. Rain is always nice. But beginning around 6pm tonight there are 44 consecutive hours of freezing temperatures and all but about 4 of those hours are projected in the 20sF range. Easily the coldest spell of the winter and it waited until things began to actively grow. I guess I'll move some things in that have stayed outside all winter. Too many hours and too often I get 3-4 degrees colder than the predictions which may send my temps down in the teens. No way this isn't going to damage some plants. I've seen at least too bloom stalks in the iris which have all been growing rapidly. Unfortunately, this has been the weather pattern for the last few years. It's like there are two very cold, very short winters sandwiching a long stretch of mild, growing weather. Bummer. If the possible 1/2 inch of ice forms on the trees, there will be some debris to gather up. I think most of this cold is going to stay in the upper third of the state and not so much freezing temps in the lower part. I hope.

@needrain We'll be watching for your reports of weather up your way. Yesterday was a little cool, but didn't need a jacket all day. Today is cold drizzle. Whatever you're getting there, we are forecast to have here by 3am, and staying icy until 6pm. There will be many accidents tomorrow. We have so many overpasses and bridges. Most of us aren't used to driving on ice. I would predict some school closures also.

I just came in from covering a few beds of bulbs that are already up. It's the first time I've gotten out the row cloth this season. We've been very fortunate so far. I'm going back out to see if I've missed anything to cover!

Well, I just finished bringing in everything a few minutes ago. Shortly after 5pm. It was snowing very lightly and sticking. The thermometer I have hanging away from the house was reading 27F when I finished. I moved things inside that have been outdoors all winter due to the predicted number of consecutive hours of below freezing temps. The below temps arrived an hour and 5 degrees colder. I did leave a path in the garage to walk through , but it's not a wide one! Right now I'm ready to move to Costa Rica!

We can buy a duplex!

LOL Ken. And we wouldn't even need a greenhouse there! I could just quit wishing for one and just poke things in the ground and watch them grow.

Yep, WE could, Donald.

I read that Costa Rica is rated #1 for a preferred vacation destination, at least by the Brits. DD is thinking about the possibility of buying a place in Mexico in the future, but I really, really can't understand that! It's too unstable there. I kept waiting for it to rain today, but it never did. Brief little spritz, at one point, that was all. And tomorrow, I'd love to stay home and stay warm and dry, but darn it, we have to go into S.A.

needrain said:Well, I just finished bringing in everything a few minutes ago. Shortly after 5pm. It was snowing very lightly and sticking. The thermometer I have hanging away from the house was reading 27F when I finished. I moved things inside that have been outdoors all winter due to the predicted number of consecutive hours of below freezing temps. The below temps arrived an hour and 5 degrees colder. I did leave a path in the garage to walk through , but it's not a wide one! Right now I'm ready to move to Costa Rica!

Well, the ice is finally melting We were stuck inside all day yesterday, aside from having to feed the horses and chickens. I am thankful to have made it up the stairs without slipping. I did however slip enough to realize I am not limber enough to do the splits any more. If it had not have been a dangerous situation of falling off the stairs and down a cliff it would have been hilarious. Almost wish I had a picture. Almost... One foot was slipping one way and the other foot slipping in the opposite direction. I did little tiny movements for several minutes trying to get out of that position I guess I need to put a bag of sand by our door in the winter from now on. Come on sunshine!!!!!!!

Slipping is no fun! We live at the top of a hill, but our driveway dips toward the house. I was afraid to drive to the store yesterday afternoon, even though the ice was melting. DH was my driver! Still have ice on the vehicles, but not the walkways. I think the worst is over. Our electric bill will be a shock this month. We've have five heaters running at night in three hoops. (Oh, and the trip to the store? I was out of eggs and needed them for a couple of recipes. When DH put the eggs in the garage frig, he noticed I already had a carton of 18 in there. )

I did not collect eggs yesterday. I guess they froze I bet your husband was happy about the unneeded trip Too bad you do not live closer. I have five cartons of eggs that were laid last week. We have been eating lots of eggs! We also live on a very steep hill. Everything is up or down.
It was frightening to look at the news and see how many fires erupted the past two days from people trying to heat their homes. I hope you are right about the worst being over. The rest of the week has been iffy. I was supposed to have an order of tropical water lilies delivered out yesterday, but do to the weather they will ship out on Friday. I hope we will be on a warming trend by then.
Do any of you guys do tropical lilies in your water gardens? I was thinking of starting them inside. I do not know how long they would be good inside until the real spring is actually here and I can move them to the ponds. I stared out the window most of yesterday daydreaming about gardening. I already have picked out all my annual color for the year and have already started some seeds in flats indoors. I am running out of winter gardening things to do to keep my mind busy on these bad weather days.

In our neighborhood, we baked, and cook, and share cookies and cakes. I always have a project, and I thought I was going to be stuck a few days, without eggs. I think we both needed to get out of the house anyway yesterday. He's a good sport! He has no interest in gardening, other than mowing, but he'll go with me to nurseries and big box stores (and not ask why I want to buy the whole rack).

We were shocked too at how many fires there were yesterday. People don't realize how hot those space heaters can get on the back and place them near furniture.

I have a very small pond. I've had waterlilies every spring. Every summer the raccoons found them delicious! I've finally given up on them. We've relocated so many 'coons that we're running out of spots. I would think you could keep lilies inside if you have a spot that has some light. Maybe a bucket in the kitchen? Not sure if the GH would be warm enough, but that could be an alternative.

Now we're like the rest of the country!

Brrrrr!