... but I'm having a hard time with it! This is the advice of all our local growers, horticulturists, and people who know, but dang it, I love the luscious greens and I'm saddened every time I look outside. Just can't seem to learn to love the ugly. And this overcast weather is not helping either!
Call me cranky and grumpy today!
Call me cranky and grumpy today!
So tell me this doesn't make you feel sad. Plus all the work to rake this all up and the cost of replanting!
Do you see those spots of green, those are our pigmy palms. The larger of the two, was wrapped in two Christmas lights nets and then covered with a duvet. The littlest one, just peeking above the rocks, was covered with one of the Christmas lights net and also covered with a small duvet. I wish I could have done that to all of my plants and palms. We did cover them, but I ran out of Christmas lights and at this time of the year, there were none to be found anywhere.
Out of my 6 large pots, only two survived. These are the azaleas which are blooming :-) Now there is a happy sight in the middle of all this ugly :-) The little pots, some survived, most have been replanted. I just needed some green :-) All these pots were put on the patio and covered with blankets.
As you can see, it's just brown everywhere you look. Even when you look over the fences at the neighbour's gardens, all you see is brown.
This is why they are saying to love the ugly for now instead of just raking everything up. Some might still sprout and grow. This is my little apple tree. It sure brings joy to see all these beautiful blooms.
I know a lot of you experience ice and snow during the winter months and wait for Spring for everything to come to life again and I bet your gardens look beautiful then. But we are not used to having this. My garden stays green all year 'round. We have a lot of tropical plants and evergreens, so it's just sad to see it all brown and dead. Most of the "brown" plants are dead and we fear that most of our palms are too.
I learnt something with all this - if the brown leaves are falling, then there is a good chance that the plant is still alive. If the brown leaves do not fall, then the plant is most likely dead. I keep wishing all the leaves fall :-)
On a happier note, my fairy garden is doing well. I just need to replace the moss here and there to bring a little bit of green to it. I think I will also replace the mushrooms. They're looking very sun bleached. We actually brought it inside during those icy days, the reason it survived, I believe.
Anyway, just thought I would share the after effects of Uri.
The experts are saying that this only happens once in a lifetime, here in Southern Texas, so we should be good to go :-)
Enjoy your day, and stay safe and healthy!
This is a shame, but I think your property is still beautiful. It will take some work, but you'll get there. As I said, I think it still looks beautiful, not having seen the "before" pics. Your fairy garden is a delight, and it must have been a lot of fun to put it together! I have heard another crafter talking about her fairy garden but I didn't know what it was. I've never seen one before. So adorable!
ReplyDeleteOh, Lena, my heart breaks for you. I never even thought about the devastation to the landscaping, and I should, because when arctic blasts reach us, I cover everything. Lots of the huge potted plants are moved into the garage with a hand trolly. This is what I have learned... T-SHIRTS make the best protection! I cut T-shirts up one seam so there is a "flattened" surface. The t-shirts are wrapped around the plants. It might take 3-6 overlapping t-shirts to cover some in-ground or potted plants, but the cotton knit keeps warmth in and protects. Then I cover with a sheet, tucking it around the pot and plant. Finally, another sheet is thrown over. This creates warm air layers between layers of covers. (hope that makes sense). Make sure the top most sheet covers to the ground. The colder the night, the more t-shirt layers are used. Another good source on top of t-shirts are old towels. I found only one thing to be better than this method, and it is mattress pads. The only thing is, if you are covering plants we "weak stems", the blankets or mattress pads break the stems. So that is why I changed to wrapping layers of t-shirts around the potted plants. We have discovered that snap dragons grow and bloom without cover as low as 20 degrees. We used to cover our staghorn ferns with quilted bedspreads - 3 kingsize quilts to a plant, but it is too much work for us now. These plants are now nearly 45 years old, and have become accustomed to freezes, so we don't even cover them. They drop their fronts, but baby ones come back in late spring if we have a severely cold winter. I don't know how you could have planned very well for all that TX got hit with. What a disaster! I'm grateful you are safe and doing well, but sad for your sense of loss. We grieve most when one of our giant oaks is struck by lightning. In fact, in our former home in Tampa, we selected the home based on the lot, and lost 2 trees to lightning strikes in 2 different years. Where we live now, we have removed lots of southern pines because they are lightning magnets. The first year we lived here, lightning hit about 60 feet away from the house, taking out 4 pines and 3 old oaks. We felt devastated each time, so I truly empathize with you. It will take time, but I am confident you will love your yard again. The Ugly will remind you of the blessings in life - such a cycle there is as we adapt and move forward. Loving you, de
ReplyDeleteSo sorry, hon, but things will get better xoxo
ReplyDeleteoh yes ... I deal with this EVERY year! And it is VERY DIFFICULT to 'love the ugly'! I too am anxious for my grass to once again be green and for the trees to fill the empty space with their beautiful leaves. My spring bulbs are all popping up out of the ground (tulips, daffodils, crocuses) so hopefully we won't get another hard freeze ... but it is possible and they will all get fried! I'm anxious to see the apple tree in the front yard start to bud ... always a good sign. I did see a couple Robins the other day ... THAT is a good sign that Spring is right around the corner.
ReplyDeleteHand in there my friend ... sorry you had to go through that but be thankful it's not an annual thing LOL (your pool area looks fabulous ... even brown lol) One day I'll come check it out for myself!
What an enchanting fairy garden. It lightens up!
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