The photo on the left is the Trumpet vine in May 2006 and the photo on the right is the Trumpet vine after the 17 degree night of 14 January 2007.
All I wanted to do was sit by the fire and doze. The weatherman gave us his "Pets and Plants" warning. The cold hit about 4 PM - it was 30 degrees soon after sunset and the temperature kept dropping. I really didn't think it would be a sustained cold so I did not cover my plants. It got down to 17 degrees.
My 10 ft x 10 ft Trumpet (Brugmanisa arborea) took a major hit, all the leaves were shriveled up. It was so beautiful covered in huge white flowers this past summer. The Canna's went brown as did the Lantana. I should have already cut those back but I just don't seem to enjoy gardening the way I once did. I know the roots are safe on these plants, the ground doesn't freeze like the really cold places, ie Wisconsin, Montana etc. So I know they'll come back. I mean, after all, it is southern California! Then I saw my beautiful Barbara Karst bouganvilleas. One of them occupies the entire corner and a smaller one is about 7 ft across. Brown and sad-looking. I love those bogeys, I hope they come back.
On the plus side, my yard was covered in birds. Those guys were hungry. We normally fill the feeders twice a week. As fast as we filled them, they emptied them. Four days in a row, we had a gang of goldfinches, black phoebes, scrub jays, sparrows, wrentits and my favorite, the California quail. We have several bevy of quail nearby. Our house sits right next to a horse trail so they use it like a freeway, We see them crossing over and into the yard they come, like a choo-choo train, Mom, Dad and the younguns. We started putting dove and quail food out for them this year. I love to watch them.
