Thursday, December 3, 2009

Chilly!

It's cold out here! The sunflowers are still blooming madly in the garden, but it's beyond sweater weather in Texas and I'm actually wearing a coat outside! The squirrels and birds have once again taken over the yard as the toads and lizards are in hibernation. The goldfish are hiding at the bottom of the pond.

There are paperwhites blooming in my garden. I have always thought of these flowers as spring bloomers and I'm not sure if they have their seasons confused or perhaps they prefer a slight chill. They are beautiful regardless of their reason for blooming in the cold.

I threw a tarp over the mustang grape vines yesterday and secured it tightly to try and provide a little bit of protection for the baby sparrows. They are still in the same place, just outside my den. They seem to be very happy there and prepared to winter on my patio so I moved their food and water dishes a bit closer to the trellis. I have a clear plastic covering over part of the trellis to provide warmth and the tarp for security against some of the harsh winds we've had lately.

It didn't freeze last night as expected, but it got very cold! I was unsure of what the weather might do, so late last night I harvested in the dark. I brought in the last of my anaheim chilis and all of the basil and parsley. I have a huge bag of it waiting to be harvested. I also have tons of tomatoes still resting on the vine, but I think I will leave them there to take their chances. It is supposed to get cold again this afternoon, and I may eventually pull the plants and hang them upside down in the garage so the tomatoes can ripen on the vine.

There are standard yellow sunflowers blooming on the front slope. It is so funny, and glorious, to see blooming sunflowers in December!

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