Morning jewels

The last several days have been cold, at least by Florida standards. But a warm front pushed in last night and triggered some rain showers. When I woke up my yard was shrouded in fog and the plants looked like they were covered in diamond dust as the morning sunlight danced through the residual water droplets. I had to snap a few photos before heading in to work. As much as I'm a night person, I really do love morning moments like this.

Sad plants

Well, it finally happened. We got a freeze--the thing that tropical gardeners fear. Needless to say, many of my plants are looking pretty crispy right about now, including my coveted crinum lilies. I had read that they're cold hardy into the 20s, but that doesn't mean that their foliage can't get burned back. Chances are the plant itself is fine and will put out new growth in spring.

I'm guessing the crinums will recover, since this is what typically happens with my Dwarf Cavendish bananas. Each time we have a hard freeze--this time my indoor/outdoor thermometer registered a 29.8 degrees as a low--the leaves get fried. But time after time, the bananas put out new leaves and are back to their perky tropical selves by mid-summer.

Check back for updates on the crinum recovery process!

Tip: Always wait until after the last freeze before pruning back any freeze-damaged plants. If you prune earlier, you might encourage additional damage if another hard freeze comes along.

Sweet blooms

One of my new crinums is blooming! I wish I could somehow capture the wonderful fragrance so that the photo could be scratch and sniff. It reminds me a bit of a cross between and orange blossom and jasmine. Absolutely wonderful.