Cactus Watcher earns his screen name

[cactuswatcher]

That cold weather that deevalish was talking about in CA the other day settled into my area last night. So for the second night in a row my backyard looks like my wife got mad and threw all my things out the second floor window. Except I don't have a second floor or a wife. The temps were down in the mid 20's this morning. Fortunately they warm up during the day. There aren't many of my plants that could take the 20's all day. Most of them don't even like a hint of those temps, but can take it as long as the growing tips are protected. So I've got every rag I can find, paper grocery bags and even foam coffee cups all over the yard protecting all the plants that need it. That doesn't count the ones I've taken from the patio into my bathroom. Oh yeah, my bathroom. Have you ever seen one of those really grimy back rooms/corners at your local plant nursery? My bathroom looks like that and will continue to look like that till we have a warm night.

I skipped the mutual admiration meme today, but know that I think all of you are kind, handsome, thoughtful, witty, intelligent, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent in some order.

Comments

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

Oh it's still very cold. The nights are hovering in the lower 30's and upper 20's. The weather forecast says that it'll be this way for another couple of nights till it's cloudy enough for it the nights to be warmer. When I used to tend to a garden faithfully I would do much the same you're doing for some of the less hardy plants. My mother always thought I was being eccentric for caring about gardening that much. ;o)

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

My mother would cover some plants, but I think most of the ones she had, that were small enough to be covered, were suited to the midwest where we lived and really didn't need to be covered. Things like the peach trees and magnolias would lose their buds in a particularly cold winter, but we just had to live with it. Here in Phoenix it's just a few nights a year and usually not this severe.

How cold was it?

[soulfulspike80.livejournal.com]

It was so cold last night in Cave Creek that the pipes froze! My brother, a friend, and a coworker were all without water pressure most of today - no laundry, shower, toilet flushing, etc. How crazy is that in Arizona? Fortunately, it all seems to be fine now. If it wasn't, my friend was going to stop over in the morning to use my shower!

Re: How cold was it?

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's one of those things I noticed moving here from the midwest, the way the houses are built if it got really cold the pipes would freeze. Down in the bowl of Phoenix it really doesn't get cold enough. But I guess up north where it's higher, all bets are off!

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize that cacti were so cold sensitive. For some reason I assumed they could withstand a frost. Guess it's because they look tough.
:heh, we are all paragons of virtue!:

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Some cacti are very tough like the prickly pears that can grow up into Alberta. But, some of the ones I have are more at home way south in the tropics, either in Mexico or Brazil.

paragons of virtue!

Either paragons of virtue or Boy Scouts (The last four are from a list of virtues we had to memorize, and pretend we lived up to as Boy Scouts. I don't remember them all, but the last four in the list seemed like an odd mix, which is why I still remember those.)

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Hee, all I remember from my stint in the Girl Guides is the motto: Be Prepared. They didn't tell us what to be prepared for, however!