Re: frost and toast

Yet another Bay Area gardener checking in...

We're between Patti in Menlo Park and Mike in San Jose, in a Santa Clara
suburb. So far, things look pretty good, with one or two big exceptions:

-- I'm really worried that I've lost my Bearss lime. After five years in a
big pot, I finally planted it out last spring. We watered thoroughly on
Saturday and covered it with clear plastic and left the plastic on (I
figured it would create a mini greenhouse since the daytime temps weren't
real warm either...could someone explain the techniques of covering
plants?). When I checked it this morning, all the leaves had turned brown.
I can only wait and hope.

-- Not surprisingly, the ornamental ginger (not kahili--you were right,
Lynn!) looks pretty toasted. It generally freezes back to its rhizomes
here. I moved it this year over next to the house on the south side, and
Monday morning it looked fine. This morning it looked wilted.

-- I didn't do anything to protect the 40-year-old Meyer lemon out front
(front=west side of the house), and its looking pretty wilted. I expect it
will survive without too much long term damage, since it's so well
established. When we bought the house in the fall of '92, it didn't appear
that it had been damaged at all by the '90 freeze, and the previous owner
wasn't particularly known as a gardener.

-- I covered a planting bed out front with plastic because I'd just
recently reworked it and because the Tulbaghia fragrans (fragrant society
garlic) has proven tender in past years. T. fragrans leaves look more like
that of miniature agapanthus than they do the common society garlic. The
bed also has three lavender "babies" and lots of thymes, all of which
appeared okay when I checked. Paperwhites in the bed didn't seem to like
the greenhouse effect, as they all fell over (paperwhites elsewhere are
erect and blooming still).

-- I expect my fortnight lilies (Dietes vegeta) will die back somewhat,
which is kind of a relief as they're getting really big. Pacific Coast
irises all look the same as they did pre-freeze.

Cheryl

@--,--`----

Cheryl Renshaw
Santa Clara, California (Silicon Valley)
USDA Zone 9/10, Sunset Zone 15
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