Was it cold enough for you today? We got down to 9.3F. And we came nowhere near the forecasted high of 19F. See title. 🙂
Daily walks were still taken. However I might have walked a little faster than normal.
Of course with these temperatures called for extra layers, long johns, and my handwarmers. After getting back from my midday walk I wondered how long it takes to get frostbite. Here’s what I found. Why did I look this up? Because when I stopped to take a few photos my fingers got a little cold. Oh by the way these convertible mittens or sometimes called glittens meant that I don’t have to take them off completely. Thanks Claire for making them for me.
Can you believe this Draba (Tomostima cuneifolia syn Draba cuneifolia)? It must have gotten a good start yesterday.
Next I checked on the Tiny Bluet (Houstonia pusilla).
Then Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule).
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) was closed. However normally it closes at night and cloudy weather. We didn’t see any sunshine today.
After the afternoon walk, a hot beverage! Yum!
So I know a few people went outside in the cold too. But it was certainly a good day to do inside stuff like read a good book and make a pot of soup. 🙂
I have marked the plants so I will be able to see how they do. I suspect just fine. I bet they have some sort of mechanism for survival in the cold.
I found this: So how do plants survive winter? As the days shorten and temperatures change, hormones are triggered in plants that signal changes. A species of plant may do one or a combination of the following changes as they prepare for winter.
Create anti-freeze. Some plants increase the amount of sugar, salt or other compounds mixed in the water of their cells. This lowers the freezing point, requiring much colder than normal temperatures to cause their cells to freeze.
Move water deeper. Some plant move water/sugar/sap into the roots and/or into the spaces between cells, where it is less likely to freeze or cause damage if it does freeze.
Enter dormancy. Some plants reduce or nearly stop growing. This helps plants conserve energy and food, as well as reduces the amount of water they need.
Drop their leaves. By dropping their leaves, plants reduce the surface area that is exposed to the cold, drying air, saving water in the plant. In addition, dropped leaves break down and return nutrients to the soil. When the leaves return in the summer, the increased surface area helps move water up from the roots into the leaves. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/exploring-your-world-how-plants-cope-with-cold
We hung in the low 20’s down here but the 11 or lower is coming. Layering is so important and I see so few people doing that. Especially a layer under your jeans or pants. I have heard of male horseback riders admitting they wore panty hose under their jeans to stay warm. It works! I love a company called Winter Silks for my version under snugger pants like jeans and use the old fashioned longjohns under my work pants that are loose fitting. My favorite gloves are SSG 10 Below Waterproof gloves. You can pick ice out of a water trough with these.
Claire, nice job on the glittens!
We finally got frost on our frostweed today! Yay.
As of yesterday I had a Calylophus flower open. That is a first for me. I haven’t looked at it after this amount of cold to see what it did.
Thanks all for knitting compliments 💙. Very eager to see how my caliche pot seedlings do thawing out. Nice to see in ground plants look ok for you so far!
Totally relate. Got to get outside every day regardless of the weather.
Besides when you persevere the weather and come back in, you feel good about it.
Claire can knit anything. Glad you had the mittens and hand warmers. You sure were bundled up. Poor plants. Bit cold for them too.
I have marked the plants so I will be able to see how they do. I suspect just fine. I bet they have some sort of mechanism for survival in the cold.
I found this: So how do plants survive winter? As the days shorten and temperatures change, hormones are triggered in plants that signal changes. A species of plant may do one or a combination of the following changes as they prepare for winter.
Create anti-freeze. Some plants increase the amount of sugar, salt or other compounds mixed in the water of their cells. This lowers the freezing point, requiring much colder than normal temperatures to cause their cells to freeze.
Move water deeper. Some plant move water/sugar/sap into the roots and/or into the spaces between cells, where it is less likely to freeze or cause damage if it does freeze.
Enter dormancy. Some plants reduce or nearly stop growing. This helps plants conserve energy and food, as well as reduces the amount of water they need.
Drop their leaves. By dropping their leaves, plants reduce the surface area that is exposed to the cold, drying air, saving water in the plant. In addition, dropped leaves break down and return nutrients to the soil. When the leaves return in the summer, the increased surface area helps move water up from the roots into the leaves. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/exploring-your-world-how-plants-cope-with-cold
Tough plants for braving all that cold. You too! My only foray out was to fill the bird feeders – soooo cold!
Wonder about all the other critters too.
We hung in the low 20’s down here but the 11 or lower is coming. Layering is so important and I see so few people doing that. Especially a layer under your jeans or pants. I have heard of male horseback riders admitting they wore panty hose under their jeans to stay warm. It works! I love a company called Winter Silks for my version under snugger pants like jeans and use the old fashioned longjohns under my work pants that are loose fitting. My favorite gloves are SSG 10 Below Waterproof gloves. You can pick ice out of a water trough with these.
Claire, nice job on the glittens!
We finally got frost on our frostweed today! Yay.
As of yesterday I had a Calylophus flower open. That is a first for me. I haven’t looked at it after this amount of cold to see what it did.
Calylophus, wow! It will be interesting to see how it fares. Keep us informed.
Thanks all for knitting compliments 💙. Very eager to see how my caliche pot seedlings do thawing out. Nice to see in ground plants look ok for you so far!
I get compliments of the knitware quite often. And I proudly say my daughter made them. 🙂
I went outside briefly to recover a plant when its sheet blew off. That was long enough for me. You are a hardy woman!
Just need my daily steps and fresh air. 😉
Totally relate. Got to get outside every day regardless of the weather.
Besides when you persevere the weather and come back in, you feel good about it.
Wow, claytonia already? Did not get as cold as you did here in greater Houston but it was still brrr! now I need to go hunt ephemerals.
You definitely should! 🙂