Nice pictures, I love your succulent garden.
You didn't get a lot of freezes do you?
We have not had one get this year, Not even a killing frost.
Been a crazy season! Got a feeling its going to get really cold this winter.
Anyway love your garden!
Dorothy

What a shame. Your garden is so pretty. Randy told me that temps into the 20's was predicted for your area. I hope you don't have too much damage. BTW did you build your own patio and walkway? It looks great.

Josh I've said it before but after looking at all those wonderful pictures of your garden and what you did with it...if I could and would not love brugs, hibiscus', plumeria's and list of those tender tropicals is growing lol...then I would love to have a garden just like yours!

Max and penny seem to love it also :-)

Thank you for sharing and I hope that the freezing will not be to bad....who am I kidding :-(

Lucy

Beautiful garden! I am wild about your walkways too! Do the aloes withstand freezing or do you have to bring them in?

Pam

Your yard is beautiful, so well put together.
Its 26 for me right now :-(, probably get to 23 or 24.
What do you do with you brug in this cold? Is it in the ground?
tim

Looks fantastic Josh! Although I am not into cacti and succulents, I love the way you have mixed other plants among them. Brrrrrrrrrr, hope all your plants survive. We too are cold, and rainy here in southern Ca.

Yay!! Although we did have frost on the ground, we only dipped to 30F! (Still too darn cold! lol definately not what we're used to). I always find that the weather forcasts are a bit on the conservative side. Then again, i'm on the eastern part of the valley where we're a bit higher than the western and central parts meaning that cold air drains out (to the lower parts). Tonight is supposed to be colder than last night though. We'll see how cold we get.

Dorothy, We normally have a handfull of days every year when we get frost in the morning. A hard freeze isn't too common. Probably once ever 10 years or so.

Karyn, most of California was affected by the cold air mass blowing from the Arctic (brrr). Many low-lying spots, especially inland, would see temps down to 23F. Fortunately for me, my garden is tried and true. The only things that would de damaged would be the brugansias (which lose their leaves) & a couple of potato bushes. oh, and annuals like the marigolds. & thanks for the compliments! I did build that patio. It wasn't too hard. I took about two months to build it. Adding to it a little at a time. I'm sure someone could have it done in a week if they spent they wanted to. It has a two inch sand base and measures 12' x 12'. It's such a cozy spot, especially in the afternoons with a fire going in the chimney.

Lucy, thanks! I kind of (not completely) gave up on the tender plants lol. They required too much worrying in the winter. Of course, i couldn't stop growing brugmansias! and I do keep one plumeria in a pot, a Majesty Palm and a Kentia Palm that I won't get rid of. Other than that, the plants here wouldn't miss a beat with the cold we're having! I'm really surprised to say this, but I'm feeling ok about this cold weather! Max & Penny love hanging out in the yard. Sometimes, they look like they could be wild dogs haha.

Pam, thanks! The aloes in the ground should withstand cold down to the 20s. There are some, though, that I keep in pots and bring in. Those are the really tender ones that I couldn't grow in the ground, or would have to protect, like Aloe Dorothea and Aloe Hardyii (dang it! I just remembered I forgot to cover that one! oh well). I also have some A. Arborescens cuttings that wouldn't stand a freeze as unrooted cuttings in the garage, as well as an Aloe Africana & Aloe Vaenbelenii that I potted up this week. Those would be able to withstand the cold with an established root system, but not as of right now. I have been asking lots of questions in the succulents forum and was told that aloes withstand cold better when they are on the dry side. I stopped watering them in October and they were pretty dry by this time. Let's hope for the best.

Tim, I drew so much inspiration from Debra Lee Baldwin's book Designing with Succulents. That book is soooo helpful! She also keeps a website running if you want to check it out. I have four 10-foot+ brugs that are in the ground. They've been in the ground for the last three years which is when I got into brugs. They lose their leaves in the winter but rebound in the spring. They even went through our 2007 freeze (18F for two days and 20s for the rest of the week)! They froze to the ground but came back with a vengence. i have a Georgia Peach & a Double Peach (sent to me by Elizabeth!) that I dug up, potted up, and put in a shed.

Eloise, it is way to darn cold! haha. I could see my breath in broad daylight yesterday afernoon! (I know for some of you reading, this is no big deal lol). We're expecting rain the whole next week. As you probably guessed, yes, those storms are coming from the North Pacific Ocean & Arctic Ocean!

Josh

Really enjoyed the lovely pictures of your garden. Thanks for sharing.
Ingrid

Josh, your yard is just beautiful!
What a wonderful job you have done on it!

Karen

Josh, you have a very nice and inviting garden. Grate job !!!

Pat

BEAUTIFUL!!!

What a lovely sitting area, surrounded by a lovely garden!
Susan

Josh, you are right, i.e., we are not used to this, LOL! Yesterday at 7 AM, when I got my car from the garage, it registered 39 degrees, and when I drove on the streets, it registered 33 degrees, and yes, I too could see "steam" from my breath -- too darn cold! When I got home, driving to the garage, I noticed my noid yellow/orange brug super droopy from the cold :-(. I hope this isn't a permanent change in weather for us.

We sure aren't used to this! Love your pics, now I gotta go label mine and ID some of those aloes & agaves.
I hate winter.
Tally HO!

Josh, such a pretty garden. You're lucky it's pretty much cold proof. Some of my brugs are looking like wilted spinach this morning. It's so cold!

Jill