Thursday, November 07, 2013

Mandevillas

I awoke in the night to the sound of Caillou barking. I'm not sure why, but he sleeps with
his head out the doggie door. If anything stirs outside, he's all over it.
When I flipped on the light on the back deck, I could see a gentle rain falling. Out by the fence, a deer looked toward me before bounding off into the darkness.
The rain was welcome. We had a wet spring and summer but when it moved off, it moved off. October and November have been as dry as snuff.
I stepped over to the fridge, grabbed the milk, and poured a half glass before fishing a few gingersnaps from the cookie tin. I ate them standing at the sink looking out the window into the night.
This morning, the rain moved off to the east and it was obvious the temps were dropping. Soon the wind kicked up and I could feel that winter is not that far away.
After the cold snap last week, we'd moved the citrus plants back to the deck to get a little sun, but this morning as I drank coffee, I made a note to drag them all inside because the weatherman is predicting frost here.
The mandevillas were the last thing I brought in. They are a little more tolerant than the citrus trees, but they cost a fortune and I didn't want to lose them to the cold.
The afternoon sun highlighted the red blooms so I snapped a picture. The plants sulk when we bring them in, but they survive the winter and flourish in the spring. Maybe I should build a greenhouse.
Y'all have a great weekend.
  


8 comments:

  1. Have a great weekend Rick:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice post! Enjoy the weekend and the change of seasons!

    ReplyDelete
  3. With your love of plants you really should built a small greenhouse. My husband did years ago and it was all made with recycled 1/4 inch thick glass that my husband reclaimed from the old PMQ Private Military Quarters when they renovated the old picture windows. He used some aluminum t- shaped frames and put two thickness of glass with a small space in between and the sun was heating it. He painted some big metal barrels black and filled them with water and the sun energy was heating the water and keeping the place nice and warm. The floor was patio blocks that also absorbed the heat. It was a year round greenhouse even in our harsh winters.

    He had a wood stove in the basement and when it got cold and no sun, the heat from the basement would rise to the green house through some forced air under the floor. There was some crushed rocks if I remember well.
    We had to tear it down to make room for expansion of my business. He then built a small plastic covered hot house that we had to dismantle to put in a water well. I really miss my greenhouse.

    JB

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:25 PM

    You & Jilda should read this, Rick!!

    http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5747223283051967693#editor/target=post;postID=3964513107230464063;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=postname

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's a great idea. A greenhouse.

    ReplyDelete
  6. He's very concerned about taking care of you. My Faulkner was the same way -- a worrier.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  7. You painted a lovely blog with your words.
    Just like a canvas....I can "see" it through your descriptions.
    Lovely....

    ReplyDelete
  8. My plants don't like it indoors cause its too hot.
    I hope they survive the winter.

    ReplyDelete

Please consider sharing

Email Signup Form

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required