Flowers and A Baby Wren

It's cold today and tonight will be really cold, so bye bye flowers. I cut some to bring into the house before they freeze.

Here are some azaleas.

These roses and lilacs remind me of the flowers in this antique floral print I picked up at an estate sale recently.

This baby wren was checking out the site of our future vegetable garden yesterday. Hope his little feathers keep him warm tonight. He could sort of fly, so I think he will be OK.

To protect your tender outdoor plants covering them sometimes helps. Make the covering material go all the way to the ground, and use bricks or rocks to keep it in place. This helps trap heat from the ground to provide some warmth to the tender leaves and buds. Also, this information from the University of Florida Extension Service:

WHAT TO DO DURING A FREEZE

Ornamental plants can be protected during a freeze by sprinkling the plants with water. Sprinkling for cold protection helps keep leaf surface temperatures near 32°F (0°C) because sprinkling utilizes latent heat released when water changes from a liquid to a solid state. Sprinkling must begin as freezing temperatures are reached and continue until thawing is completed. Water must be evenly distributed and supplied in ample quantity to maintain a film of liquid water on the foliage surfaces. Irrigation for several days may water soak the soil resulting in damaged root systems and/or plant breakage due to ice build up. Consult Extension Circular 348, Sprinkler Irrigation for Cold Protection, for more technical information on this subject.

WHAT TO DO AFTER THE FREEZE
Water Needs. Plant water needs should be checked after a freeze. The foliage could be transpiring (losing water vapor) on a sunny day after a freeze while water in the soil or container medium is frozen. Apply water to thaw the soil and provide available water for the plant. Soils or media with high soluble salts should not be allowed to dry because salts would be concentrated into a small volume of water and can burn plant roots.