Baby It’s Gonna Be Cold Outside

Baby It’s Gonna Be Cold Outside Remember Last Winter

It’s Time to Talk About Winter Protection.

It’s finally cool in North Texas, which means protecting plants and black spot. Plain and simple. Last year my potted palms and large patio plants were evicted from the garage. We decided the garage was for tools and we should have a separate gardening shed and that works fairly well except the size of the potted patio plants have grown to include a Sago Palm that a baby elephant can hide behind. I know you sophisticated gardeners are thinking Sago’s Palm’s can withstand temps down to 20 degrees, right? And you’re in Zone 8, right? Well, remember last winter when this Planting Zone 8 that borders Planting Zone 7 had something like 14 inches of snow and my magnificently designed pre-fabricated in the garage greenhouse and erected in the back yard visqueen roof collapsed under the weight of the snow with my Asian jasmine in it while I was freezing to death in San Antonio???  If you aren’t familiar with Planting Zones in Texas you will be. Because I grew up planting and winterizing and roses and plants in Northern Illinois and I knew what to expect from winters. North Texas is like learning everything new. The battle rages between the tropical air from the gulf and the cold air from the North. When I built this house in Texas the landscape company insisted it was Ok to plant the shrubs and trees when an Alberta clipper was passing through and it was 8 degrees. 

 I told them it wasn’t going to be OK. It wasn’t OK. We lost the largest Oak they planted.  

USDA Hardiness Zone means that the plant is hardy to that zone and will endure winters there, and generally can withstand all the warmer zones below.  Zones are only a guide.

North America on the left, Celsius on the Right

Zone 1: (below -50 F) below -46 C
Zone 2: (-50 to -40 F) -46 to -40 C
Zone 3: (-40 to -30 F) -40 to -34 C
Zone 4: (-30 to -20 F) -34 to -29 C
Zone 5: (-20 to -10 F) -29 to -23 C
Zone 6: (-10 to 0 F) -23 to -18 C
Zone 7: (0 to 10 F) -18 to -12 C
Zone 8: (10 to 20 F) -12 to -7 C
Zone 9: (20 to 30 F) -7 to -1 C
Zone 10: (30 to 40 F) -1 to 4 C
Zone 11 (above 40 F) : above 4 C

Next post we will talk about city ordinances, and by laws too numerous to list that may be part of your homeowners associations bylaws and our own experience firsthand that may impact your ability to erect a structure to protect your plants. But don’t despair we have a quick inexpensive solution to protect your plants and save you tons of money.

Fashions for the Goose Girls are by

Goose Clothes Galore
P.O. Box 198
Sycamore, Ohio 44882

(419) 927-5248
gooseclothesgalore@yahoo.com

The Goose Ladies are loved by our grandchildren and all the children in the neighborhood. They have a full array of garb for every season. I jumped the gun a bit showing you them in the snow because I was worried about winter protection for plants and wanted to scare you into action. So I neglected to show you them in their fall fashions but I will back up and give you a fall preview because soon they will be in their Halloween costumes. All the neighborhood children run up the stone path and check them out and pat their beaks daily. My husband gave them a fresh paint job last year and they are beautiful. My dear friend Susan Davis laughed when she saw them and said “they are so not you!” And I said “Just wait until you have grandchildren, you will be amazed at the stuff you will do, remember I was willing to be called  “doggy,” and thought it sounded adorable,” so leave my geese alone”.  The geese are just fine! And I’ll dress ‘em. “Oui” even dress them sometimes. The neighbors drive up and stop to see how the geese girls are dressed as a weather indictor because we put rain gear on them when it is going to rain. They tell me the geese girls are better weather girls than the television personalities. Who knew?  More later