Baby, it’s cold outside…

Central Texas gardens are being slammed with ice and even snow in some parts.  I feel for our northern friends who have it so much worse than we do.  We’re feeling very deprived of our “normal” warmer early spring temperatures.

Iris, wisteria, and Texas Mountain laurel buds are being sabotaged. Delicate new shoots on perennials have bitten the dust. And, our evergreens will once again be slow to start their growth. 

Here are a few signs that it’s really cold in my garden. 

This Japanese aralia will recover, but isn’t this one of the most pitiful things you’ve seen in the garden.  It’s hard to believe that it will perk back up when the temperature warms back up.

After several years, the pump on the birdbath fountain died.  I replaced it a few weeks ago with one that was the same size – to fit in the reservoir – but much more powerful.  It has a great bubbler.  If you look carefully, you can see that the majority of the water is frozen, except for the bubbling center, announcing loudly to the bird world that the water bar is still open for business.

Luckily, both the plum tree and the loropetalum were already in full bloom when the ice hit, so I am still enjoying this sight in the back landscape. 

It’s 31 degrees and raining this morning, so I guess it’s time to settle in with the seed catalogs for a little bit longer around here.