awww weretable, i'm sorry dude.

it's been freezing rain all day long here. just in time to completely destroy the incredibly gorgeous ornamental crabapple in front of the office building, which (was) in full, glorious bloom. loads of lovely pink/fuschia blossoms now drooping / wilting / trampled into the pavement...

*sends weretable tickets to the Bahamas*

if only I could

Aw snap, I'm sorry man, that really blows.

Yeah, I feel for you - I am watching all sorts of plants die here too that came out during the warm weather and are now not happy with the 20 degree weather.

Well. It might not do any good, but I tried.

My bamboo grove was heavily mulched with leaves and lawn grass last year so a lot of them still have not came up through that, thankfully. Which might help some. I will know Monday, I guess.

But all of the ones that were coming up outside of last year's growing area were exposed. So I covered EVERY SINGLE bamboo shoot (and there were a lot of them) with something. The areas with a lot of shoots were covered gently with sheets, the sheets were then covered with light rugs to help insulate and also hold them down in the wind. One area with at least 70-80 new shoots I covered first with sheets and then a large boat tarp that I had bought last year for another purpose. I put some bricks around the edges to hold it down.

I covered more isolated shoots with eight-ten inch piles of lawn grass clippings from a big pile I made last fall. I also picked up as much of last year's straw from the area where I had tomatoes and cucumbers as I could stand to before I got too cold, and I tossed all of that into the middle of the grove to help insulate shoots that were still under the mulch. Good thing none of the shoots were really tall yet or I could not have done much without snapping them.

After I decided that I had done all I could to the bamboo, or at least all I was willing to do with the wind blowing 25-30 mph and my nose running like a sugar tree, I gathered up everything else I could find and covered some of my more tender perennials, my deciduous azaleas (except a couple that even a 45 gallon plastic trash can would not fit over =/ ), my European elderberry cultivars, and a few other things.

I used rugs, old clothes I had put in a box in the garage to eventually use as pet bed material and whatever else I could find to cover stuff up with. I need to make a note to watch garage sales and buy as many old sheets, blankets and other things as I can find on the cheap. And then just horde it away in a corner of the garage for future problems like this one.

I am not sure I will ever be warm again. I get sick really easily so I didn't work yesterday or today since it was going to be below freezing in the mornings and I didn't want to end up sick and missing a week or more of work instead of two days... and then I go outside and move moldly, rotten lawn grass and straw in the bitterly cold wind for a few hours. Probably not too bright.

I wanted to cover all of my evergreen azaleas to protect the flowers and about-to-open flower buds as it will get at least some of them, but I ran out of material. The roses I am sick of anyway, they are so much work. So if it eats them for lunch I will just plant something easier in their place. Sigh.

I am so sorry for you! I'm sending you warm and healthy wishes so you won't get sick, and good thoughts for your plants. This weather has truly been remarkable, hasn't it? Meanwhile, hot tea, lots of blankets, and layers!

when i left work tuesday it was 72 degrees. a block from home i saw young ladies exulting sunnily in shorts and bikini tops. when i left work wednesday the wind was driving horizontal snow like ice daggers through my skin with blizzardly fury. a block from home there were no exulting bikini tops. this is my michigan.