One of the things I love about my Backyard Resort is getting started at the beginning of the season. New plants, new ideas, and the fun of watching everything come roaring back from the winter season. With a lot of the fast-growing tropical plants (Bananas, Cannas, etc), every days bring noticable progress. Well, me, I’m the impatient type. I’ve written in other posts about how I protect my banana plants to give them a headstart.
Another thing I do is get the potted plants and annuals that go in the ground out as quickly as possible. Hibiscus, Angel Trumpets, Bougainvilla, Coleus, all the showey colors and flowers that make such an impact. A couple of weeks of warm weather (70s and 80s) here in Dallas is usually what triggers me getting to work. Well, we got it, and last weekend I rolled up my sleeves, put on my tanning lotion and got after it. Lots of tropical hibiscus in pots and coleus in the ground.
I was very proud of myself and looking forward to watching all this stuff take off … until, that is, I watched the weather forcast on Monday. Low and behold, a late season freeze warning for my area on Tuesday. Unbelievable, it was 80 degrees yesterday …..
But really, this is not so unbelievable where I live. A little later in the year than usual, but we get these wild swings in March. Pretty normal stuff. So, here I go, 11 oclock at night, watering everything real well, covering what I could, moving things onto the patio where it was feasible. I actually move my big plumerias into the house as I can’t stand the thought of losing those 6ft beauties.
Did I grumble and complain. Yea, quite a bit. Might there even have been a little bit of, shall we say, salty language? Most definitely. But I got it done and had little or no damage. I probably did more than I needed to .
It all came back into perspective though. All spring and summer and well into fall, I get to enjoy a beautifully exotic setting that noone else around me has. I decided, as I do every year, that, yep, my Backyard Resort is well worth a little inconvenience.
Cheers …
dang fun stuff man.