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ScreechingCoot of Bloom
May. 9th, 2020 10:37 pmThese are not the best of times. But the funny thing about them, from my point of view, is that they're so much better than what was happening last year. I know that's not true for everyone, and I'm sorry for those who are worse off this year than they were before. However, for me the turning seasons have now arrived at the anniversary of the time when we entered the tunnel of the approaching freight train. I feel as if emanations from the past are affecting me and casting a cloud over the sunlight of the present. But I say to myself that those things happened once, and they can never happen again. I just have to be kind to myself and let the month of May pass by. Then, at any rate, it can never be the first anniversary again.
It was a fine sunny morning, but quite cold, and with a cold blustery wind blowing. I went out as soon as the feels-like temperature was above freezing, and undraped all of my plants. Some of them looked a little wilted in spite of my efforts. It's too soon to tell how well they fared, and there's more cold weather coming. While I was unwrapping the roses by the fence, my neighbor on that side came out with his mother to have a stroll around the back yard. We had a nice chat from a social distance. He is a bit of a recluse, and recently had some back surgery, so it was good to see him out and about. His mother came to assist him after the surgery, and ended up staying because her other children didn't wish her to be alone, so sheltering in place seemed convenient. I learned from them that my fear that the deer were getting into my yard was correct. He said he'd been up in the middle of the night and had seen them walking between the houses behind us, through his yard, and then jumping the fence into my yard! Between them and the rabbits, they'd finished off his tulips as well.
I then watched a video from the county extension in which a nice man explained that covering your plants is basically useless when there's a sustained period of seriously below freezing weather. It only works to hold in the residual radiant heat from the soil during brief periods of frost. So I doubt that all my fussing really made much difference. Oh well--it was fun anyway, draping my whole yard with colorful fabrics, like an art installation! Tonight, it won't go below 40, and it will be raining, so I'm not covering anything. The next few nights will hover around freezing. I'll just wait and see.
It was a fine sunny morning, but quite cold, and with a cold blustery wind blowing. I went out as soon as the feels-like temperature was above freezing, and undraped all of my plants. Some of them looked a little wilted in spite of my efforts. It's too soon to tell how well they fared, and there's more cold weather coming. While I was unwrapping the roses by the fence, my neighbor on that side came out with his mother to have a stroll around the back yard. We had a nice chat from a social distance. He is a bit of a recluse, and recently had some back surgery, so it was good to see him out and about. His mother came to assist him after the surgery, and ended up staying because her other children didn't wish her to be alone, so sheltering in place seemed convenient. I learned from them that my fear that the deer were getting into my yard was correct. He said he'd been up in the middle of the night and had seen them walking between the houses behind us, through his yard, and then jumping the fence into my yard! Between them and the rabbits, they'd finished off his tulips as well.
I then watched a video from the county extension in which a nice man explained that covering your plants is basically useless when there's a sustained period of seriously below freezing weather. It only works to hold in the residual radiant heat from the soil during brief periods of frost. So I doubt that all my fussing really made much difference. Oh well--it was fun anyway, draping my whole yard with colorful fabrics, like an art installation! Tonight, it won't go below 40, and it will be raining, so I'm not covering anything. The next few nights will hover around freezing. I'll just wait and see.
