I love her too, Ursula. Fantastic job and I want a little coat like that. So pretty. My gardening is pretty much the only hobby going on here these days so not much outside of that to show, I'm afraid. We don't take pictures when we're sailing or autocrossing, sadly. Too busy.

That is so clever and I want a coat like that too. What really amazes me is how quickly you turn these projects out.

I am OK if they are posted here or in a new thread, whatever you think - just keep posting them.

Thanks Ladies!
You know, that little coat just sort of happened! It is kinda fun to try out some ideas which don't take weeks to finish!
I would say that technique-wise crocheting is faster than knitting and allows you to go totally free form and change directions much quicker.
But I have to say, when I am playing around with a project like that, usually in the evening, the exercise app on my Apple watch is positively yodeling. About an hour of knitting or crocheting translates to about one mile walking! My last project, a 12 foot Dr Who scarf translated to the equivalent of almost 2 marathons!

I would say you're cheating on that exercise app, just a wee bit, Ursula. Moving your hands enough to make the motion sensor think you're actually walking, very clever! At the very least, you're surely exercising your brain and creativity, which is just about as important.

Cheating? Me? Naaaaaahhhhhh

My FitBit does not record hand movement, maybe I need an Apple watch. Probably would not matter, I am the slowest knitter ever.

I think if we move I will have to dig up this NOID camellia and bring it along. The flowers are such a crisp, clean white.

This Billberiga is a NOID also, it grows everywhere around here. The ones in the ground don't look so hot but I had protected this pot in the garage.

Supposed to be in the 30's tonight, enough of this crazy weather.

Pretty! I would try to take the Camellia along too, if it isn't too huge to dig up
I like the Billbergia too. I had one years ago, gave it away when it grew too large. I should have kept it!

Some Bills do get unusually large, I foolishly bought one, 'la vi en rose' last spring and have regretted it ever since, it is huge. The Billbergia nutans has beautiful flowers and that one stays manageable in size and would look good in your greenhouse. The rascally rabbit ate mine last year and it is taking forever to come back.

I like that camellia too.

Nice day for a walk in these parts but not much to look at. Here are just a few of the challenges ahead:
The big tibouchina:


Huge Carrie mango tree:


Hibiscus:


Iochroma:


Begonia:


Tree bougainvillea:


Ornamental grass:


Duranta golden mound hedge:


I'll post the palms over on the Tropicals/ palms thread. I have at least ten with significant damage. I may not know for months if they will make it or not.

Jim

How disheartening. Things look the same here, I am hoping this was just a fluke and not a sign of the future weather patterns. I took out anything that had split bark at the base of the trunk. There is little that can be done if it is that far gone.
I can't imagine what your big bougie looks like.

The bougie was posted but mislabeled. I corrected it.

Jim

Sad!

For you, Jim. For sure going to be a lot of pruning down the road.

They might as well reclassify our zone from 9 to 7a.
If you need another set of hands with pruners let me know Jim.

That's sweet of you, Lindsey. I won't prune anything until March. Everyday I go out and look for new growth on those plants. The difficult part will be the palms. I've got 10 of them with severe damage and they take their time dying/recovering. Knowing me, I'll be looking for rare/endangered/unusual/hard-to-find plants to take their place. It took me years to find the ones that just died (perhaps). It will break my heart if I lose the Carpoxylon macrospermum or the Satakentia liukiuensis. Both are magnificent plants.

Jim

Jim.

Only got down to 37 here last night, never thought I would be happy about that but they had forecast 30 so whoo hoo.

Always "think positive" though because plants are incredibly resilient, for the most part. Most of your pictures look like woody shrubs or trees and they will all recover from this setback, I'm pretty confident. But you're right to wait because there is still the possibility of more cold weather so the dead canopy of leaves will help to protect the plants.

I'm very happy that my mango, a 'Carrie' like yours, was not in full flush of bloom when that cold snap came through. It looks like it's waiting to put out blooms until things warm a little, thank goodness. Usually it flushes in late December, but it took a bit of a hit from the hurricane and I cut the top out of it at the beginning of December that had some mangled branches, so maybe it's pouting.

Pretty nippy outside this morning here, too but I don't think it got down to 42, as predicted. Still, breezy and too darned cold for us to go for a walk, even now at 11:30. What can I say, we're wimps!

Jim, keep the faith, I was out whacking back anything that had split bark at the base and I was pleasantly surprised at what did have some life to it. The best part of having wide open spaces is that I can see the soil now and it is open enough to get some round up in there without threatening nearby plants. Perfect time for fresh mulch or pine straw also. The weeds had no problem with the cold, they are growing like crazy.