Sunday in the Garden: Autumn Chill
Yesterday was the first day of autumn and mother nature decided to surprise us with a cold front reminiscent of winter. Temperatures dipped into the low 30s, there were frost warnings, and the neighboring states to the north got snow! Ugh. While I’m glad to be rid of the oppressive heat, it is way too early for freezing cold.
So last night I dragged out the old sheets I use for “plant covers” and tucked in my garden for the night. Fortunately we stayed a few degrees above freezing and everything survived. Many of my plants are still lush and flowering and it would have been a shame to lose them. We’re supposed to have one more night of cold and then the mild temperatures return.
I try different things in the garden every year and this year I put together four shade barrels using house plants and leftovers plants from my flower boxes.
The photo above is the one along my back fence. This barrel receive about 25% sun and this is what it looks like now. The photo below was taken in early July. Usually the plants remain about this size, but the warmth this summer caused them to grow larger than usual. These are heat loving tropical plants and as long as they get lots of water, they will keep growing and flowering.
Below is what they looked like in May. The plants in the back are Coleus, on the left are Impatiens, to the right are Begonia, and in the center is Angel Wing Begonia. The green plant in the very front is a piece of Spider plant.
Any other gardeners out there?
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Under My Apple Tree 
Yep, those are all plants you see in this part of the country. the 30s is cold – we were whining because it got down in the 50s here.
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Lovely plants! Wish I had the green thumb.
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I love flowers and leafy plants [and trees, for that matter] — but I know next to diddly-squat about the art of plant husbandry. A few months ago was the first time I ever transplanted a plant into a larger pot, and it seems to be doing fine.
I love your pics, and envy your skill at good flower-raising!
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Yes, it got quite cold here too. I clean my garden last week, just because I thought I’d get out there and do it before it was too mushy with all the rain we’ve had. (thankfully not snow). Have a good week, and enjoy the end of those lovely blooms.
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These are lovely, Leslie! I recently planted some fragrant sage and (more) mint near our home. It is still more like summer here than autumn, temperature-wise, but hopefully it will cool off soon.
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