March 24, 2021
I planted 5 small bluebonnets before the Big Freeze. The deer took two as tribute, leaving me with three, and they came through the deep freeze just fine.
Now they’re blooming, a hopeful sign of spring!
Keeping it real, though, this is how the past couple of weeks have looked: bag after bag after bin of cut-back plants, mushy agave leaves, and live oak leaves, which annually drop in mid-March and came down a couple weeks early this year due to the Big Freeze. Thankfully, the city picks up yard clippings and turns them into compost, so it’s not going to the landfill. All of Austin’s gardens are getting a major haircut this year. Maybe even a buzz cut.
‘Traveller’ weeping redbud is putting on a show in the back garden. Redbuds (and Mexican plums too) are standouts this year without the competition of Texas mountain laurels, which were hit hard by the freeze.
We’re now a month past the freeze, and experts like Neil Sperry (in North Texas) are saying if a plant isn’t showing signs of life by now, it’s probably toast. But I’m still holding onto hope for a few things, like my loropetalums (the brown leaves at left), which show green under the bark when I scratch it. If they don’t re-leaf soon, however, I’ll cut them down and see if I can find replacements this fall. I’m also watching my Mediterranean fan palms and two bamboos, ‘Tiny Fern’ and ‘Alphonse Karr’, for signs of life. Oh, and my big toothless sotol in my steel pipe planter is looking iffy. I already replaced a smaller one in a different planter. Another likely casualty is a big blue nolina in the back garden. I’ve been visiting nurseries daily in the Hunger Games competition to find replacement plants — similar to the Hunger Games competition to find a Covid vaccine. Success on that front, at least!
It’s crazy out there, folks. But you already know that. Time to focus on the signs of spring and new life — like the screech owl nesting in our owl box! I took this photo a month ago, in the sleet phase of the Big Freeze, happy to see the owl hunkered down in the box but also a little worried for her because of how cold it got. I’m happy to report that she’s still there, making daily appearances in the doorway. Maybe she’s sitting on a few eggs and we’ll see owlets peeking out in another month or so. Here’s to new beginnings!
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