Oranges Weren't the Only Things Frozen

So on the drive back down south from the Bay Area, I swear I saw orange groves with ice on the trees. And of course, now everyone has heard of the huge loss to California's $1.1 billion orange crop.

My poor garden was so frozen that the flowers looked as if a drought hit. The leaves are all burnt and crispy. I've never seen the like before. This was my bougainvillea just last month. Look at the poor thing now. I have no idea how to revive it. :(


And these were very green and healthy looking cannas and bac ha plants. I'm not sure if I should cut the tops off the cannas and let them go dormant or what. The Vietnamese translation calls them banana tubers and they're edible. My grandma used to dig them up and steam them. They're starchy and taste sort of like a mild potato. I don't really eat them but these are part of the group of cannas I dug from my grandma's garden so I wanted them just to remind me of her.

My garden just looks so dry and sad.


Fortunately, the cold spared my Iceberg rose. Don't ask me how that happened. The rest of my roses have been dormant for the winter.

This weather is so freaky. It ruins oranges with thick rinds, but doesn't damage strawberries with no covering? I decided not to chance another cold blast and picked them then and there. Don't be fooled, these strawberries were tiny - about the size of the tip of my thumb tiny. So they had to be savored s l o w l y. Mmm.