Friday, January 24, 2014

Frosty Morning

We don't get much freezing rain here in San Antonio, but today it brought an unusual opportunity for frosty spiky plant photos.

The Yuccas are taking this cold winter weather in stride.



Agave ovatifolia is good to 15F so it can take some frost.





Bunny Ears Cactus coated in ice and frozen solid in their icy strawberry pot.


Icicles on the outside light.  You can see this type of ice coats everything.



'Orange Frost' Citrus living up to its name.


Agave americana usually pulls through these frosty days just fine.

  

Frozen Bluebonnets, they can take a lot of cold so we'll still have wildflowers in the spring.


A solitary Bluebonnet rosette in the rocks.



Ice began sheeting off the metal roof as the day warmed up.



The falling ice created a slushy spot in front of the garage.


This aloe was shared from a friend's garden and is probably pretty hardy.


These small aloes probably won't make it though.


Google Awesome Motion flick of the sheeting ice rolling assembly-line style off our roof.


The ice made a mess of morning traffic and most events were cancelled.  By early afternoon the ice was mostly gone and the roads are clear now.  Our weather is predicted to be up in the sunny 70s by Sunday and then much, much colder through next week.

22 comments:

  1. That ice coming off your roof in sheets is freakish! Hope all your plants make it.

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    1. I think there were a few losses so far and I'm trying to see it as an opportunity for some new options.

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  2. Fun to take pictures of the ice and snow, isn't it? I have little rivulets of snow in my Franzosini agave. I'm afraid the moisture and the really cold freeze here (26) may have done in a few of my other-on-the-edge agaves. But most of them are just fine. Love the motion video of the ice coming off the roof!

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    1. Most of my agaves are pretty hardy so they should be okay. I'm glad I passed up some of the not quite so hardy ones over the summer.

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  3. The ice-coated agave are very pretty. I hope they remain unharmed by the cold!

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    Replies
    1. So far so good but we are getting our coldest weather yet tonight so we'll see.

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  4. Great photos Shirley, although some of the succulents in ice made me worry. Your roof is a kids dream come true, my brothers would have had a blast with those ice sheets.

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    1. This has to be one of our coldest winters in a long time and some things will be losses. The roof is only a few years old and this is the first ice coating so we know what to look for next time.

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  5. Great shots--especially the ice sheets! I hope all your plants pull through OK. The Blue Bonnets are so pretty!

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    Replies
    1. Most will be fine. We will take a lot of risks in our climate and sometimes it doesn't pay off.

      The bluebonnets are okay they do need rain soon though.

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  6. It's so pretty when ice coats everything but I'm sorry for the folks who had to drive in it! Your pictures are great. Fingers crossed for your plants, especially the aloes!

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    Replies
    1. It's going to be a while. I may have to replace them with hardier plants. We'll see.

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  7. Your pictures are great, Shirley! Sorry but I think some of your plants won't survive after this frost morning. I don't like this weather here because it's dangerous for most of plants.
    Have a nice week!

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    Replies
    1. Our range of temperatures are tough on plants. We can vary 50 degrees or more in a day or two.

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  8. If the saying "pretty is as pretty does" is true, what does that say about these beautiful pics?

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    Replies
    1. It was cold but worth it to get out and take some photos.

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  9. I'd say you got a bit more ice than we did in Austin. Pretty cool shot of the ice factory on the roof.

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    Replies
    1. This storm did go a bit farther south, the moisture seems to be coming out of Mexico all winter.

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  10. I am glad your ice did not last long. I hope you did not loose too many plants. I like the photo effect of the ice rolling off the roof. When we had our ice storm last month, the thick ice caused damage to a few cars when it slid off the metal roofs.

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    Replies
    1. I can imagine if the sheets are larger they would fly out and cause some serious damage especially with a little wind.

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  11. While your garden looks beautiful in its icy coat, I am hoping the ice does not do too much damage. I am thankful for the cover of snow in mine as it protects the plants against the extreme cold this year.

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    Replies
    1. The freeze and thaw cycles we have can do more damage by opening up the plant.

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