So Much for My Predictions

My friend A and I went walking this morning. A reminded me that I had predicted a warm, wet winter and a warm spring to follow. (She reminded me of this because nights have been in the low 30s for months now, and we were being stung by a breeze that seemed to have come directly to Sacramento from Alaska.) Maybe I'll be right about the warm spring, but I guess I shouldn't claim any predictive power.

The cold nights have been hard on some of the plants. A few of them (like the three hibiscus I developed an enthusiasm for at the end of the summer) were put out of their misery several weeks ago. Two tiny Japanese painted ferns are only a couple of weeks from the garden waste bin, and I think a few others are in jeopardy if the night-time weather doesn't improve soon.

The azaleas, which were early last year, seem to be waiting for warmer weather. The buds are there, but only a few blooms so far. I know when to do the first spring fertilizing--one of my dicentras puts out a little frond. I can see the green, but a frond is likely ten days to two weeks away. Last year it was just at the end of January. It's possible that it will be a warm spring, but I don't think it will be an early one.