Sweet Petunia!

So Thanksgiving  has come and gone and with it, Darling Daughter and her husband.  Now the Little Bayou House seems relatively empty. (Pun intended..relatively..daughter..ok, ok!) The constant chatter and endless giggles have quietened and the hustle and bustle has lapsed over into the humdrum of daily life.  While they were here, things were busy and I had no time for everyday chores. I am just now getting outside to catch up on much needed yardwork. The several nights of freezing temperatures took their toll on many plants in the garden as was expected.  Even though the squash were covered and warmed with lights, the plants did not fare so well. They look a tad "under the weather"!  None of the greens and root crops suffered any permanent damage so we are good to go there.  Michael had lugged most of the potted plants into the shed to protect them.  I shoved a few under the jasmine vines in hopes that the heavy leaves would guard them against the cold.  Most of those froze back but seem to be still sturdy.  Then the surprise!

Early in the spring, Michael rigged an old, tired wheelbarrow as a container garden.  The bottom had rusted through so he replaced that and filled the thing with dirt.  I was elated to make use of something that was deemed as garbage.  The wheelbarrow was filled with daffodil bulbs and with some good, old-fashioned petunias. These did well and were full of blooms last week.  I pondered covering the whole thing or moving it into a protected place but never did.  Imagine my surprise today when I discovered that these were not damaged in the least by the freezing temperatures!  Not even the blooms were withered! Petunias must be extremely cold-hardy.

Another great thing about planting in the wheelbarrow is that the voles were not able to damage the daffodil bulbs.  Their tunneling has just about ruined every garden patch on the hillside.  No matter how hard we have tried to eradicate those pests, nothing seems to work.  Michael and I are in the process of designing more raised gardens that have some sort of grating on the bottom that would allow for drainage but not allow the critters to infiltrate!  I suppose I just need dozens of wheelbarrows!  Ahh, the beauty of recycling!