Of course, down here in Texas, we don't get it as bad as the rest of the country. But this year saw a record-setting early snow and several nights of hard freeze which played havoc with our gardens which usually only have to deal with mild winters.
I was checking my "to-do" list for the garden in January, and one of the items was "Plant cool season color, such as pansies, allysum, petunias and snapdragons.
I'm happy to say, I'm one step ahead of the game :-) I already have pansies in the ground and I'm happy to say, they weathered the freeze pretty well. I don't remember exactly when I planted them -- I think, just before Thanksgiving, but I can't be sure.
(Note to self: USE that new garden journal this year and make note of when you plant things!)
This little gem has bloomed consistently, with more reliability than the post office (Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night... you know the rest...) since before Christmas.
This is Matrix© Yellow Blotch pansy and I literally planted it and a few others like it and forgot them, as it were.
They're mulched, as you can see, but I didn't cover them during the freeze. They did fine after the first night of sub-zero temps, but were looking a little ragged after the second night but they seem to have perked up a bit since then. (Yes, I know we're lucky, we only had a couple of nights below zero)
I'm off work today (also due to the freeze in a round about way -- a broken water main was being worked on and we had no water so it seemed as good an excuse as any to take a personal day) and after getting my hair cut I wandered in to WalMart where they were moving the Christmas stuff out and starting to get some gardening stuff in.
They had a few bedding plants in already and when I saw they had Allysum at $1 each, I splurged and got six! (I know, last of the big spenders, that's me)
This one is still in it's pot, but, even though it was drizzling a bit this morning, I got them all planted and watered in. They're such sweet little plants, with a lovely scent, I hope they do well.
They certainly brightened a dreary day and reminded me that spring is, indeed, just around the corner and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I recently found out about Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, where garden bloggers post photos of blooms in their gardens on the 15th of each month.
I know this is a day early, but I'll be at work tomorrow, so this is going to be my first official entry in the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day !
11 comments:
Love pansies and alyssum. You know alyssum grow very easily from seed.
Thanks for the info Darla. I haven't tried growing them from seed before, but it's something I'll certainly try -- violas too, I hear they are easy seeds to grow.
Hooray for pansies! My established alyssum looks as if the blooms were freeze dried, but the violas are great.
Happy Bloom Day.
Congrats on keeping these alive despite the snow and frosts. You probably won't need to grow your Allysum from seed as it self-seeds really well, especially if you leave them to die in situ when they've finished flowering.
I love your countdown to spring clock, and I can't wait until it says 3 days, 2 hours, 1 min and 0 seconds....we'll be so close!!!
Sorry to hear about your freeze-dried alyssum, NellJean.
Stuart, thanks for the tip, I'll try to refrain from ripping them out of the ground as soon as they start fading.
danger garden -- I love the countdown clock too. I saw one on another blog and had to get my own :-)
Hi Jayne
Welcome to GBBD and thankyou for your lovely comments over on my blog. Alyssum at this time of year wow it must be warm where you are. I love pansies and once the weather improves alittle here I am heading to the garden centre to get some with cute little faces.
Hello Jayne - January is a great month for starting a blog!
At first hearing your Houston-area garden suffered "sub-zero" temperatures shocked me - then realized that you came from England - that was sub-zero Centigrade, right?
Happy First blooming day,
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Haha - you're almost right Annie -- what I *meant* to say was "below freezing." I still think in Fahrenheit, having moved to the U.S. before the UK went metric.
I'm glad your pansies have pulled through. The allysums should do well if it gets cold again, too. I love both of them. I am looking forward to our garden centers getting pansies in, around the first week of March.
Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
It always brightens my day to see pansies. All my blooms are buried under the snow, but I have hope that spring will eventually arrive here in zone 4.
donna
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