Category: Native

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Mystery consumption of coreopsis seedlings

I left the glass jar off the backyard newly transplanted seedlings last night and those two were gone. Genius move there. HOWEVER, in the front yard I also checked on the two new seedlings there. One was fine, the other was GONE and it was under a glass jar too. Earwig? Rolley-polley? We may never know. Paula has kindly and generously agreed to re-donate back one of the many I gave to her as her mortality rate is currently substantially lower. Like all of them are living. Thank you, Paula, for subsidizing my sink population.

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Melting almost complete

I don’t think it froze overnight so the streets are mostly dry except for water flowing along edges.  Shady spots and snow piles are less melted.

The front nook, dog for scale.
The front yard beds, distracted dog for scale.
It looks like everything in the rock garden survived!  Also more of the irises by the mailbox survived, so I guess only some leaves got damaged.
Since we’re back to usual late winter temperature I went ahead and brought out the coreopsis seedlings which I had cold stratified in the fridge. They have been waiting as little seedlings on a damp paper towel for probably a week or more. They are under the glass jars. They are to replace two seedlings I planted last fall that didn’t make it. This row is back to five evenly spaced plants now assuming everything survives.
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More survival reports

I went out to get the kohlrabi and cabbage for Wes and uncovered some more areas.

The tops of most onions seem frost damaged. Not sure about their bases. We’ll see if they grow back this week or if I need to go get more.
Adjacent snow covered onions seem similar.
The chard is definitely frozen. Will be interesting to see if it comes back from its base or if I need to reseed it. Tucked under it is a ragged little cabbage.
I cut the kohlrabi at the base. Most of the leaves are in good shape, too.
The cabbage (left) and kohlrabi (right), harvested and set on the snow.
The Dutch corn salad greens are as hardy yet tiny as ever. I think from reading recently they don’t get much bigger, so I guess you’d need to plant a lot more than I do?
At the edge of the front nook, these strawberries and mealy blue sage were
Another towel and tub protected area. Strawberries look good and so does the oregano in the upper right corner (at the edge of the snow).
I think the sad little standing cypress has survived!! I put a bit of mulch around it after my last visit to it (when it looked very sad). The other front nook one and both backyard ones are still covered by snow.
By the time I got done outside Wes had trimmed up both the kohlrabi and the cabbage for use this evening.
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The survival report

Well, on the way out to walk the dog, I started lifting up some tubs and towels to let things have sun and see what survived. I’ll go out again later and see about the kohlrabi and one cabbage as the chef wants them for dinner. Any feedback on whether to trim back the damaged perennials (irises, garlic, rosemary) would be appreciated!

The saffron leaves seem intact.
Strawberries with the saffron seem okay too! These were all under a towel and a tub.
The cilantro was under a tub. It died. The leaves of cilantro in the cactus planter also died, but there appeared to be some live bright green at the base. We’ll see if it grows back.
This native plant rosette (I think Gaillardia?) seems fine and i didn’t cover it or its neighbors at all. It had more snow on it during the coldest cold.
The oregano in the herb bed by the plant window looks a little worse for the wear. It had two plastic tubs over it. Some leaves look damaged but some seem maybe okay.
Both the front and backyard faucets and pipes seem to have survived!!! That’s a relief. I opened both slightly for a few minutes, just in case to clear any bits of ice out, but it was all liquid coming out that I could see or hear. Whew!
Front yard strawberries seem overall okay on the northwest side. These had towels and tubs in the center, and just towels around the planter base.
Even the un-toweled leaves seem okay so far.
Other parts of the bed had an aluminum trash can lid and leaves over them. I’m feeling pretty optimistic.
The irises by the mailbox got frozen. Anybody know if I should trim them back or just let them regrow on their own?
Most of the rosemary is now a very dead looking brown-green, but at the base of at least one there is still life (the brighter green branches) so I hope they can all grow back. Presumably insulation from snow helped the base.
Like the irises, the garlic is very unhappy. I hope they too will grow back from their roots.
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The melting report

To be followed by survival report!

Garlic under the snow from Thursday.
Front nook from Thursday. Dog for scale.
Front nook on Friday. Dog scale not cooperating.
Melting progress in front nook as of Friday night. Dog cooperated this time.
Front nook early afternoon Saturday.
Plant window and herb garden from Friday. The Norman official temperature made it to 32°F.
Plant window and herb bed as of early afternoon Saturday.
Backyard cactus planter, cilantro, and strawberries/saffron bed coverings on Friday.
Not related to melting, there were two crows eating suet mix on Friday.
Front yard raised beds beginning to be exposed again on early afternoon Saturday.
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Insulation power of snow

We only made it to -8°F (-22°C — I only really comprehend cold in celsius because of my time in Canada being the previously only time I experienced cold this low) when I got up this morning around 7am.

The gallon jugs in the makeshift faucet boxes were both very cold but unfrozen so I have hope for the pipes in the adjacent walls.

I was really fascinated to see the frost on the window this morning. There’s frost right down until the snow that’s piled on the sill. That snow is only an inch or two thick because of the depth of the window sill outside. Gives me hope for the strawberries buried under the snow! (At least if the cold before the snow didn’t kill them.)
I left the plant window completely open to the house this morning: no curtains or cat shield plexiglass. It only got to 50°F but ice still on bottom metal and on lower glass surfaces.
Amazingly, yesterday’s affected eggplant and peppers have not died. I wonder if it was just ice at the very bottom of the pots, where it touched the metal? Fingers crossed they will continue to recover. The Salvia cuttings also seem hopeful.
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Unexpected freeze

One corner of the plant window froze!

The Salvia greggii cuttings and one set of seedlings got frozen. You can see how the dirt is expanded out! Seedlings lost were eggplants, bullnose pepper, and Craig’s grande jalapeño. You can see the plants just to the right appear to be fine with no frozen soil.
Juncos getting this morning’s sunflower seeds.
This one junco hopped around with snow on its back, presumably from overnight.
The heated bird bath is holding up well!
Several outside window sills show this neat layering from each round of snow yesterday.
The inside of several windows frosted. The blinds did a good job insulating in both directions! It all melts after I open the blinds.