Pretty cold here

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I don’t have a thermometer on my property here in Folsom, just a bit above Sacramento, but my bird bath has been frozen for days, and any incidental moisture from sprinklers that haven’t been turned off freezes on the sidewalk, making running a tricky proposition early in the morning.  Weather.com says it was 21 here last night, and I believe it.  We have our thermostat set to a low and high temperature and for the last three nights, it has come on a couple of times just to keep the house above 58.  I finally got around to spraying my two fruit trees in the front garden today– a peach and a pear – and my sprayer hose had ice in it and had to be set in the sun for about an hour with me periodically attempting to force water through it from the tank. This was at 10 and 11 am!   Part of my front garden to 10-12 feet from the house is shaded all winter long by the house, which faces north, and any water I ran to rinse or fill the tank, froze in thin layers on the walk!  By noon, some of the water up by the front steps was still frozen.  The south garden was another world altogether with my geraniums happily blooming away under the awning of the back deck with only the slightest bit of tip burn on a few leaves.  Ah, the amazing microclimate.

 

Karrie Reid

Folsom Foothill Gardener

Sunset and USDA Zone 9