The February Storm - Texas Style

ice-covered roses

Whew! My DH and I thought we'd escaped the bitter winter weather for a month.  Not so. Cold biting winds, ice, and temperatures in the 20's found us even here in the Rio Grande Valley.  The storm of the decade that blew its way across the mid-west and northeast, dipped deep south into Texas and even northern Mexico.  It's been the major news story down here for 3 or 4 days. Texas had rolling blackouts because they did not have enough power to supply the increased usage for heat. Schools closed for lack of heat. Roads were closed because of icy conditions. The Texans' response to these temperatures would surely seem laughable to all Northerners, but they just aren't equipped to handle this kind of weather.

And meanwhile, those beautiful bougainvillea I described in my last post are struggling to survive (as are many of the other tropical plants). My DH and I brought a nice large potted hibiscus into our covered patio. We spread sheets and towels over the bougainvillea hedge. Will it be enough? It was very difficult to cover them all, and the wind did it's best to blow the coverings off for 2 of the freezing days. It has now been below freezing for 3 nights and most of the intervening days. Today should bring relief, and the weatherman says the temperatures will recover quickly. We should get back in the 70's by tomorrow.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens Prepares for Freeze

Backtracking just a bit, we did spend a couple days last week in San Antonio. That city is 4 1/2 hours north of our home base down here in the valley. The storm was just on its way in at that time. The days were sunny and bright, but cold. We revisited the downtown Riverwalk - always enjoyable. This trip's highlight was a trip to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. I very much enjoyed the gardens even though several crews of workers and volunteers were frantically covering all the outdoor plants and trees with yard upon yard of white landscaping cloth. We were told that this kind of severe cold weather rarely happens to them; they were preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Looking down at the top of palm trees.

We spent most of our time in the indoor conservatories, of which they have several. The upward-winding palm conservatory was lovely - a very creative architectural design. As you walked a winding ramped floor you went from the base of many varied palm trees to their upper branches, and finally to above them looking down at the palms. Beautiful. It's amazing how many different varieties of palms there are. Each are different in size, in trunk pattern, and in palm leaves. Finally, when you reach the very top of this conservatory, you exit onto the top of a hill with walkways leading to other gardens.

Bananas growing in the conservatory.

There was a rain-forest mist conservatory. It was so warm and misty inside that the glass walls surrounding it were completely fogged over from the cold outside air. A waterfall added to the mist; my glasses immediately fogged up. It had a very charming, mystical feeling. I expected to see little fairy creatures hopping in and out among the mosses and plants.

There were many other wonderful plants to enjoy - banana trees, coffee trees, cacti of all kinds.  I got a bunch of nice pictures, and I'll share more in future posts. Right now I'm just biding my time; I want to shed my sweater and get back to the shorts.