Saturday, October 13, 2012

Dodging the Bullet

Dodging the bullet... from frost. 
The prediction was for a record low, down to 27 df.  It did get down to 30 df, but there was no actual frost and when the sun came out only the basil and the zinnia flowers had suffered.  I was thrilled that my pole beans were spared as they need at least two more weeks to finish drying.  Luckily the forecast for the next week is temps in the 20's and 60's with night temps in the 40's.

The marigolds and cosmos are putting on quite a show., as is the self-seeded celosia.





The second photo is the best photo of 'Bolero' marigold that I've taken this year, showing it's most frequent pattern and coloring.

10 comments:

  1. Our snap beans seemed to have survived but the dry beans two beds over bit the dust. We got to 29 and like you there was no frost. The squash plants are all dead though. I'm guessing the tomato is too.

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    1. The basil was the only casualty. I've already dried enough for the winter, so that was no problem. What suprised me is how well the chard is doing in cooler weather. I'm getting huge, perfect leaves and the stem color is amazing!

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  2. Lucky you to escape the frost! We were hit with frost last night but it was time. Our garden is pretty much finished up anyway. Your floral photos are beautiful.

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    1. I'll be ready for the frost as soon as the beans are done. The garden and I are both ready for it.

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  3. I think cosmos are my new favorite flowers. I hated the big "trees" I grew last year, but this year they were about 2' tall and so very pretty. Yours are just gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks Granny! I was abit disappointed with my cosmos since it bloomed so late. It is the dwarf 'Sonata' variety. It has been gorgeous though since about mid August.

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    2. Unfortunately, I didn't name the variety I planted last year that were this year's volunteers, other than call them "dwarf cosmos". I do know the ones that grew so tall were Single Sensation Mixed and were only supposed to get 18" tall.....they got 8-10 feet tall! Yes, they were all late bloomers. Those tall ones didn't come into full bloom until September, the dwarf variety was blooming well in my August 1 photos. I'll have to go through my seeds to see if I still have some of those shorter ones left.

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    3. I may go back to the 'Double Click' variety I grew for a few years. It didn't get taller than about 4ft and was an early bloomet. I did find the double flowers very interesting

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  4. Great pics Ed. You have the best flowers! I am glad you were spared from the frost. Wow, that seems early to be freezing already. I guess I am not used to hearing that being so far South.

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    1. Thanks Kris! This freeze was earlier than normal. We usually don't get frost until the begining of November. Last year we had no frost until the Halloween snow fall.

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