At this time of year, one of my daily rituals is checking the weather, especially the night-time lows. I don’t worry too much as long as temperatures don’t drop below 30°F. I woke up this morning to an unpleasant surprise: Tonight’s low is forecast to be 26° or 27°F, depending on what weather service you look at. The only dissenter is my favorite weather app, Morecast, which is forecasting 37°F. Hmmm, a 10°F difference? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. Clearly, somebody will be wrong.
Not wanting to tempt fate, I scrambled in the late afternoon to move my most sensitive potted plants up against the house and covered them with frost cloth. A tray full of aloe seedlings and a few prized plants (Euphorbia horrida ‘Snowflake’, Agave albopilosa, and Aloe ferox ‘Mediopicta’) were quickly shoved into the garage where they’ll spend Christmas.
Here are some quick snapshots of my hurried preparations:
 |
| Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’, Euphorbia pseudocactus, and Aloidendron dichotomum next to the front door |
 |
| …and covered |
 |
| Aloe vaombe, Aloidendron ramosissimum, Alluaudia procera, Agave ‘Desert Diamond’, ×Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’, a few Huernia and Euphorbia, and some aloe seedlings on the front porch |
 |
| …and covered |
 |
| And finally my beloved Agave attenuata ‘Boutin Blue’ and another Aloidendron ramosissimum. They live on the edge of the front porch, but I don’t want their leaves to blemished in any way so… |
 |
| …they got covered, too |
Of course now that I’ve gone to all this trouble, Morecast will probably be right and night-time lows won’t be anywhere near 26°F. But it’s better to be prepared.
Can you tell that winter is not my favorite season?
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
