I managed to snatch a quick hour or two in the garden this morning before rushing off to my bridge game. I moved some annuals. The newly planted bed in the front garden will need a bid of cheering up this spring, so I moved some poppies, larkspur, coreopsis and columbine. Watered it and now I have to pray that the promised cold spell for next week isn't quite as cold as promised. I cut back the straggly blackfoot daisies. They are always the first to start flowering and then it's impossible to cut them back. Who would cut off a flower..not I. Also cut back the lantana outside the front gate. I think it has had long enough out there. Need something new to replace it.

I am noticing that there are very few bluebonnets this year. Those that germinated after the fall rain in Sept. succumbed to the dry months that followed. Trust nature will take care of her own. Must make sure the heater is not packed away in the trailer. I think the greenhouse is going to need it.

THE RETURN

After an absence of nearly a month of travel I got back to gardening in ernest today. It was a chilly start to the day which kept me indoors for the earlier part of the day. I ventured into the greenhouse where I potted an amaryllis bulb which I rescued from the sale table at Home Depot, for $2:50. I doubt it will come to much but at least I am giving it a chance. I also purchased two clematis corms which I also potted. In the afternoon, the sun now having reached the front of the house, I took my fork and continued working on the bed at the back of the raised bed. Last November David removed the two crape myrtle which had become rather overgrown, and had not performed well for a couple for years. There was little left in the beds save the American beautyberry, which I left. I disentangled a day lily from a Texas sage. I am sure it will do better with less competition. There were three Texas sage plants growing in the bed. I removed them, added some amendments to the soil and replanted one. I also added two other Texas sage which had been left by the folks at Gardeners' Supply, after the filming in the fall. I can take as much pleasure in an afternoon of this kind of work as from planting pretty flowers. I plan to add some columbine, poppies and larkspur along the back of the wall. In front some artemisia and other low growing perennials. I will replace the irrigation line with drips and mulch the area. This should make maintenance easier.

I was hoping to work outside this morning but the cold front which blew in last evening brought strong winds and cold temperatures. I think I'll give it a miss.

Sad to say, not all frost damage is evident immediately. It sometimes takes several day for the damage to show. I spent most of yesterday pulling out the immediate evidence. That included all the basil, the zinnias and the celosias. I wanted to get them out before they dropped a mass of brown wet leaves. The Mother of Thousands, which had been growing quite happily in the roots of an iris looked fine at 8am when the temperature was still well below freezing. A few hours later the leaves began to droop and by lunchtime they were a black sodden mess. The babies had dropped to the ground. Thank goodness I have one in a pot in the greenhouse. There are lots of offspring on the soil and they seem unscathed by the freeze. I'm sure the soil kept them free from harm.

Today I noticed the Philippine Violet had taken on a bronzed appearance. I will leave the leaves on until next spring to offer some protection.

Work continues on removing the stumps of the two crepe myrtles in the front garden. Not my work, but David's. Time for a change, although what plants will replace them has not yet been decided. One of the trees was acting as a support for the Lady Banks rose. It will require some serious pruning after it has flowered int he spring.

I wonder if other gardeners do as much pulling out and moving of plants as I do. This is the longest I have been in one place and I'm learning the lesson that I don't always make good choices with planting material.

OUT INTO THE COLD

With tonight's impending freeze there were several urgent gardening chores to do today. I plant to leave two Agave desmettiana plants in the ground this winter and if the temperatures drop below 25 they won't survive. I surrounded them with wire cages and filled them with leaves. This should offer them some protection.

I'm afraid we have been spoilt this past few weeks. November has been one of the prettiest I remember in the 16 years we have been in Austin. The only negative for the gardener has been the lack of rainfall. You don't expect to have to water the garden at this time of the year. In fact I turned off the drip system weeks ago. That has meant some hand watering, especially in the vegetable garden.

I have had the best fall crop of vegetables. I planted beets and snow peas back in October, fully expecting them to sit doing nothing over the winter. This week I picked peas. They are standing 4' high with masses of flowers and plenty of pods. Peas are generally pretty hardy but to give them a better chance the sprinkler pipe frame has been reinstalled. I will drape with a cloth tonight.

Beets are starting to fill out and there are plenty of beet tops to pick.

Back in October I broke down and purchased a six pack of Swiss chard plants from the Natural Gardener. For someone who normally starts everything from seed this was no easy task. I'm glad I did because they are beauties. I also bought some broccoli and cauliflower.

The potting shed is filled with cactus and lemon trees. The standard hibiscus, left by Gardener's Supply and the large agave from the side entry are safely tucked away in the garage.

Milk jugs, wine and juice bottles, filled with water, line the tables in the greenhouse. That, along with the gravel on the floor will offer some passive heat during the night.

After an hour outside, and with freezing cold hands I came inside and got busy wrapping the Christmas presents for the grandchildren. Then I put the marzipan on the Christmas cake.