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Kind of looks like snow but it's not snow. It's ice pellets. Beady, granular ice pellets look like they fell out of a bean bag chair. Update: These pellets are known as "graupel" which started as snowflakes which were coated in ice as they fell.
Even in a cold climate this would be an unusual weather event. Imagine how this seems in typically warm, sunny San Antonio.
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Our resident gray fox was startled at the water dish we keep out for wildlife.
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The fox was trying to find water in the frozen bowl. We put some warm water in there after this photo was taken but I'm not sure it will be back soon.
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The birds didn't fare much better so we warmed up water for them too.
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The cactus garden seems to be okay.
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Agaves are still taking this winter in stride.
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Nothing seems to bother Germander and Rosemary.
The unknown yucca is looking good. I thought this might be a tropical yucca when it was given to me by a gardening friend but it is apparently quite hardy. The Opuntia Santa-rita is turning bright purple in this colder than usual winter. The Bismarck Palm is not looking so good. It might still be alive but will take a while to grow new fronds.
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Color Guard Yuccas standing tall against the cold.
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Nothing seems to bother these plants which I saw growing quite well in Zone 7 Virginia during our trip there last fall.
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So far the golden barrels are holding up well.
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The big sago may have some fronds burned but should be fine.
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I didn't cover the False Agave 'Flamingo Glow' because they can take a light freeze and we'll see now what a light freeze means to them. This looks pretty cold. The Agave angustifolia on the right succumbed to our 20F low a few weeks ago.
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Ornamental grasses holding their own in the circle garden. The Pine Muhly is still somewhat green.
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I won't be relaxing in the corner as I did on Tuesday when it was 70F. This was not our biggest temperature differential this year, we had a whopping 53 degree drop in early January in less than 36 hours.
Lots of dead foliage in the side yard. Some of these will grow back and others will be replaced with hardier plants.
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It's mid afternoon as I post this and still below freezing so the ice remains. We might not get above freezing at all today.
There's going to be plenty of room for new plants this year. Goods news, bad news. Overall the gardens have fared well, but this winter certainly provides a renewed respect for Native Texas plants.
The test:) Will your drought tolerant plants be frost tolerant plants:)? Plus those shots of the fox are great. Will you put some water out for him later on? I usually bring in my hummingbird feeders during the cold nights in Tucson so that they have food at sunrise.
ReplyDeleteMany of my plants will pull through but this year goes well beyond testing frost tolerance. We did put warm water out but with temps still below freezing it didn't last long. Should try again though.
DeleteWow...it is strange to see Agaves and palms and ICE all in the same photo and the fox captures are amazing! This has certainly been an interesting winter. We are under snow here but we are also a lot further north!
ReplyDeleteYou've had a lot more snow than usual too so it's just been worse all around. Many agaves are from mountain or high plains regions of Mexico so are quite hardy.
DeleteI think I saw a couple ice pellets fall here last night, but nothing was on the ground this morning. Your pics are quite remarkable -- an interesting phenomenon. I also love the fox pictures. Hope most of your plants pull through -- it looks like most are doing just fine.
ReplyDeleteIt's those non-native and zone pushing plants which seem to have the toughest time. I'm researching options for hardier plants than can brave our summer heat.
DeleteWow, that does seem unusual--and it would be here, too. You have a wonderful collection of Yuccas! I hope most of your plants pull through. You might be surprised that some that look dead might spring back to life with a warm-up. I'm hoping that the snow cover here will protect most of my perennials, but I'm expecting some die-back this year. :(
ReplyDeleteWithout the snow layer we have to rely on a good layer of mulch. I'm hoping some of my favorites will return. The last time this happened they were slow on the warm up but did return.
DeleteIt's a good thing that so many of your plants are holding up. Be safe, Shirley - it looks like a slip and slide out there...
ReplyDeleteWe are staying in most of the time and are quite experienced with bad weather from having lived in "up north" for many years.
DeleteLots of road closings and delays are reported but we are all set for a few days.
We had a similar weather experience last February when we had graupel, which looks similar to what you had. We also had a 5 night hard-freeze last January that took its' toll on the gardens, but luckily, most things recovered fully, although I lost a few succulents.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like what you have is graupel, formed when super-cooled droplets of water freeze on falling snowflakes, forming balls of rime. We experienced the same thing last February here in Mesa, AZ, in addition to a 5-day hard freeze in January and a 2-night one in February. I lost several succulents, but most of the plants recovered and are thriving again.
ReplyDeleteThe local weather report did call it graupel later on the day so that's what it was. Very odd. I have lost a few potted succulents that didn't get brought in.
DeleteOf course I especially loved the shots of your agaves, they all look so good, even with the ice. If any of mine were uncovered I'd be out there trying to get some agave in the snow shots, however they're all tucked under the covers.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't expect this or I would have covered more things. They are covered now and will remain that way for another day or so. We usually get a warm up but are going right into another freeze.
DeleteSuch an unusual weather event for you guys, quite dramatic images considering your location. It's good to see those who have fared well. For those that didn't, new planting opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThe new opportunities is how I am approaching this because I have learned so much in the three or so years since I first planted these gardens. The gardens also needed a bit of rearranging for a more pulled-together look.
DeleteYes, graupel is what one of the TV weather men called the soft little pellets I don't remember seeing before. Thanks Mr. B for spelling it. There's still some out there from yesterday.
ReplyDelete"Snow or a snowflake with some crystallized ice forming soft ice pellets, not as hard as hail".
Having lost a few things this winter I'll be looking for more hardy replacements. I'm really impressed with your beautiful False Agave 'Flamingo Glow'! It's first on my list. Let me know if you see any for sale locally.
It turns out the false agave is hardy to 15F which is quite good since I thought it wasn't that hardy when I bought it.
DeletePoor Bismarckia! Sorry about your losses and three cheers for those agaves hanging in there! Wow, from 70 to this has got to be pretty confusing for the plants (and people!) Living in a temperate climate where it's pretty much pleasant summer year round is sounding better all the time! We're in the middle of a deep freeze here too. Yuk!
ReplyDeleteThe freeze-thaw is the worst except this time we didn't even get the thaw yet. It will be 74 by Sunday again.
DeleteInteresting snow. Looks like what my mother called 'hominy snow'. But, I don't remember seeing any pellets that big.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't get anything here yesterday, although San Marcos did. Getting some mist today, that is freezing on surfaces.
I'm going to get to replace many plants. We've been really cold here this winter. :(
Stay warm.
We did have some of that frozen fog this morning but now it's just plain cold out there.
DeleteYou made it into the national evening news. Seems they were as fascinated with your "graupel" as I was It looks like it would do damage similar to hail, but not according to your photos, I'm glad to see.
ReplyDeleteWow I missed that but it does seem I'm getting a lot of searches on that.
DeleteNo damage it was sort of "nerf" hail.
Wow, not sure if I have seen graupel before, not in these amounts at least, but I suppose some of the hailstorms we have had over here could have been possible to be defined more as graupel, just didn’t know :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope your garden survives the winter reasonably well, over here we still haven’t had any winter, just rain and more rain.