Oh my, that Brom Christmas tree ...

We're supposed to have a little cool-down here too ... tonight's low is supposed to be about 54º so it will be wonderful to sleep with the windows open again!

I vote for tossing something over them. Maybe a blanket with something waterproof over it in case that rain does come. The soil is still so warm and surely (hopefully) the temperatures will moderate again. We always have a freak cold spell around this time of year then things go back to normal until mid January. Looks like we will have very chilly mornings, low 40's, for the next two days.

Just bought 2 more 48" seedling heat mats for the front porch. I set them up with tender plants that I used to have to bring indoors. They get through the winter fine for me that way. I have been using them on the back deck for several years with tropicals, like a 6' croton and an 8' Christmas palm, that are too large to bring indoors anymore. The containers sit on that little bit of heat and it is just enough to keep things growing. They are in an area that is protected from the prevailing winds.

Thanks, Lin!

@ardesia I may have to leave them out, at least for a few days. I have lots of row cloth (if the mice haven't eaten holes in it) in the storage shed. Also, half a roll of 6 mil plastic. I've just gotten used to stuffing most plants into the hoops.
The wind blew so hard yesterday that nearly all the EEs have holes in them. This was also an exceptional year for acorns. That, combined with whipping wind, did in anything that was in the open.

I was thinking about buying a heat mat for my patio. With that and a frost blanket, I think the few plants that I need to protect would do fine. Thanks for the confirmation, Alice!

@IbisFla , the pineapples don't get really big, they'd fit into your hand. I haven't gotten any on my plant yet, but there were some at the nursery that had some. Cute little things...I read some you can eat, but I think they're more ornamental.


Sandy I love the Brom Christmas tree. I don't like it when cold fronts come in strong with rain and wind, it surely does make it hard for covering plants. I have frost cloth and does dry out fast if it gets wet, but not much can be done about the wind. When my husband retired he brought home a huge bag of Binder clips, all sizes, they work great for holding together pieces of frost cloth, better than clothespins any day.

I only brought my orchids into the FL room last night, I have three starting flower stalks However it didn't get as cold, it is 53 when I got up at 6, has now dropped to 51.8 at 6:40. I sure would like to have a mild winter again....I'm getting used to it now.

Binder clips are fabulous, Sherri. That's what I use too. I'm sure my local office store thinks I run a big office . . . nope, they are all over the place in my garden. The big ones can clip the frost cloth to a sturdy stem which really helps with holding things in place, too. Clip goes right around the stem.

I think hopes of a mild winter like last year are long gone, unfortunately. The Gulf temperature has already dropped to 70 and will be below that by the time this cold front is done. Last year it barely got down to 70 by February. That's what ultimately determines our winter temperatures, so on the bright side we probably won't need any a/c until March and can sleep with the windows open (which I love) but I'll bet January will be pretty chilly so we'd better have our frost cloth and binder clips handy.

@sunkissed it was cooler here than in FL last night! It was 36 for us, but there were some freezing temps around us!

The fountain that I placed the broms in hasn't been running for over a year now. We were/are under water restrictions and a fountain can have no more than a four inch drop. Even though we have a big rain tank, I wouldn't want to get turned in by a passing walker and have an inspector in my backyard. I hope with all the flooding rains we've had, they'll lift some of those restrictions.

The bromeliads made it through the night just fine. I was too tired to worry about them. The fence has been repaired, they were able to re-use the run of boards that I had drilled and filled with colored marbles, and DH had them construct a gate for me to get to the greenbelt to make a compost pile (a surprise). It was nearly dark when they finished. The "boss" confided to me that I should be careful to the leave the gate propped open when I go out to the greenbelt. And when I asked him why, he told me to go out and shut the gate behind me. And I did. And I was locked out! The gate closure is on the inside of the fence. I don't think I'll forget! DH said he would fix it so they didn't have to come back.

It's supposed to go below 50 for us tonight here. That's getting pretty darned cold - my most tender orchids are in the "orchid spa" in my bathroom for tonight and tomorrow night. Then out they go again.

Sandi, be sure your husband doesn't make it too easy to get into your back yard from the green belt. It's added security so other people you don't want can't get in. I'd leave it the way it is and just put a big rock or a stick near the gate to remind myself to prop it open. Or do you just have the fence along there to keep out critters?

Gosh Sandi, that stinks to have water restrictions on a fountain. We do have irrigation restrictions here in Central FL, only twice a week, but now on Daylight savings only once a week, stinks when we get so hot and dry in May.

We've dipped to 50 twice now for a few hours around dawn and my orchids stayed outside, they did fine, they didn't predict it was going to get that cold, or I would have brought them in. But tonight the prediction is several hours in the mid to low 40's. I normally bring them in if they predict a low of 50, because they've been wrong many times and we get even colder for a few hours.

Wow! You spoil your plants. My Orchids and Broms stay outside, and have for 18 years.

Neo 'Raphael'...

I wait a long time for flowers on my orchids and have lost flowers due to cold temps too many times in November or December. So I don't mind bringing them in my porch, it was only four plants

Glad I did it is 40 this morning and frost on the rooftops, but my orchids are in a nice 59 degree FL room.

I would love to live a bit further south and not get such cold snaps, we always get at least one or two freezing nights, except the past two years have been nice with the lowest down to 36. But I lost every orchid I had one year when we were gone and it was mid 20's for five nights straight, with rain. ugh.

Here are some pictures I downloaded today of some of my air plants. The first two are FL natives I found while hiking, the one in second photo is starting to turn red again so getting ready to flower. Last two are my new plants I bought last month, back lit by the morning sun.

Nice, I especially love that last one!

Very nice pics, Sherri! I love air plants. Your last pic is really great. You could enter it in next years photo contest.

Nice airplants! Yours looks like some of mine, which I am enjoying growing.

Picked this Neoregelia 'Wolf Gang' to show the Brom fans this week.

That's a nice one, Scott.

, how large does that one get Scott?