Beating the F...

What did you think I was going to say?  I bet you Southerners don't even utter this "F" word / at least worry about it for a little while longer. But for us that "F" has not been a stranger to the End of the Rainbow Valley these past two weeks...

Beating the F....., I  hate saying it... Here I'll do it, beating the frost, especially the 'hard' frost is always tricky. How long can I ignore the temperatures dropping down to the low 30's and zapping the plants. I was trying to let the eggplants get bigger as well as the last dozen peppers, not to mention the flowering potted plants. You can only postpone the inevitable so long. So what does that mean?

Yep, that's frost on the chicken coop..

What that means is if I want to save container plants it was time to start covering them up at night by covering them with a sheet. Then I also have to remember to uncover them the next morning as the temps rise. This task does get old quickly and the inevitable is more apparent when the 'hard' frost hits as winter is coming whether we are ready or not. We have to "beat the frost"/our herbs and sensitive plants will be lost.

In order to acclimate those lucky plants who get to move inside, I have been moving them onto the front porch to have a little more protection from the house but not before a heavy rain helped wash and debug them. Thank you for that Mother Nature.

After the plants were cleaned up by removing dead foliage, they were moved inside. This was expedited as a hard frost was predicted. The necessary severe hair cuts are yet to come since this will help in the moved plants's acclimation.

In many cases there will be room to consolidate by adding other plants  to join their pots.
We have enough windows that the great room becomes more like a green house.

In order to get me more motivated I decided to take some succulents and make a natural seasonal centerpiece.  I have no clue how long the pumpkin will last inside the house but it was fun and I can always transplant the plants back to a ceramic pot. 

The newest seasonal arrangement

I've spoken of the challenges of keeping plants alive through the winter months.  Leaves drop like crazy during acclimation creating a mess making more work sweeping/vacuuming. The dry heat from the fireplace really dries out plants so watering is usually required more than once per week too.

I have to admit it's worth the hassle as there's nothing as lovely as a new leaf/ a bloom opening when everything outside is brown/covered in white. And having one's own fresh herbs during the winter is quite a treat in itself...