The dogs of winter

As many of you know, this weekend was Fall Back Weekend in the States. I awoke at the new time of 7 AM to find that it was 45 degrees F or 7 degrees C outside. The winds yesterday were outrageous. The huge leaves of my potted banana plants acted like propellers–lifting them off the ground and dropping them in a scatter of torn leaves and dumped dirt.

If it weren’t for my knee replacement surgery, they would be in the ground by now, suffering little damage. I spent the day gathering up the plants and trying to find safe, wind-free places for them. It’s very difficult to do while using a walker. The rest of the household was sick with some kind of cold/infection so they couldn’t help.

Who let the dogs of winter out in Florida? It’s pretty early for this kind of cold. Most of my potted plants can’t handle temperatures lower than 55 F (12.7 C). I thought perhaps the Crown of Thorns, which are in continuous bloom, would be damaged but they look fine. It is going to be just as cold tonight so they will come in for the night. They are my favorite plants. I probably will bring in all the aloe vera as well. I have a lot of aloe vera. They do not like temperature extremes. Several did not make it while I was in hospital.

My plumeria cutting (Frangipani) which RM’s aunt gave me last year was doing badly inside this summer. I put it out back where it gets western sun and lots of humidity due to all the plants and it did great. I am glad I brought that in: 55 F (12.7 C) is the lowest temperature it can tolerate. Credit for the plumeria photo is wildlifeofhawaii.com.  I didn’t think you would care to see a stick with four leaves. A friend of RM’s made up a lovely pot of plants: pothos, tiny brush petunias and in the center a bird’s nest fern. Right. If you said: “they each have different needs”, you are correct. RM wanted to keep it on the table, getting western sun. I warned her of the consequences. The petunias are gone; I had to cut away most of the fern and the pothos is doing just fine. I stuck the whole mess outside where it could get plenty of humidity and the remains are still living. It’s hard to kill pothos. Photo credit for the pothos is associatedgroup.wordpress.com.

A fellow blogger from England is at Disney World on holiday: A slight obsession with books (it’s about 2 hours from my location on the Gulf). Last year’s photos were great. But this year Carole has taken some wonderful photos of delicious looking food–and Disney World, of course. Stop by and check it out by clicking here.

The Last Dogs of Winter winnipegfilmgroup.com

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