I look outside sometimes, declare it FREEZING and go back to my seed catalogs/seed lists. It will soon be seed-ordering time. I got Ron Ratko's list yesterday and he has several offerings from the Carson Range here in Washoe County. I'll concentrate on those.

I thought Thanksgiving had cold winds, now it's gotten even colder. I finally get to wear the down jacket I bought on Ebay for cheap! As far as Nevada gardening, I ain't going out there! All container plants are close to the house. The Arabian Jasmine and orchids, though, are inside. My parents have a skylight so for the next two months, these frost tender plants will be getting filtered light in warm 70 degree room temperatures.

Thank God for seed catalogs in snail mail and online. All that I'm doing is planning their sping gardens. I will be planting container vegetables, mainly tomatoes, cukes, eggplant, and zucchini. My sister will be getting some trees and some heat tolerant plants planted near her guest house.

In my Southern CA garden, the tomatoes are still churning out fruit, though they are smaller and less sweet than in summer. I also have beets, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, and various lettuces.

Questions:

1. Is your lawn still green despite the frost?

2. How are the highways/roads in the cities and passes where you area Are they still drivable? What are the chances for black ice?

Thanks in advance

Bill, here's my answers to your questions: (I'm giggling answering #1)

1. I have a lawn?

Where is it? (LOL)

(no lawn here, Bill...we didn't want to deal with watering it) but many of my plants have frost damage on them ot they are dead. I'm waiting to see if they come back or not.

2. All roads are open and clear. No snow, no ice, no nothing (although we might get rain tomorrow). I doubt we will see black ice...then again one usually doesn't "see it", huh?

It's sunny and clear today high's are 66!!!! We're having a heatwave!!! No, I haven't been into the spiked eggnog....;)

Beca~

Thanks for the responses.

1. HAHA, I forget lots of people don't have lawns in NV.

2. Thanks for the roads info. I can drive in rain and even light snow. But that blizzard stuff, forget it!

Question about your Sun room. Is there power so you could heat it? With this climate, cactus is starting to look better and better.

Hi Bill...my sunroom does have power to it. My husband put a window AC unit in it soon after it was installed. It faces east (we have a beautiful view of Mt. Charleston) and has windows all around the top of it. It gets hot in the summer time. In the wintertime I've noticed it stays about 10 degrees warmer then the outside temps. I bought plastic tarps and have kept them on my babies lately. They aren't complaining. I take them off to water and put them back on later. Right now it's 60 in there. I have a couple of hummingbird feeders outside the sunroom that keep freezing at night. Quite funny watching the hummers try and drink in the cold mornings. They just have to wait until their food thaws.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what lives and what doesn't this season.

Bill, my little throw-rug of a lawn IS still green(-ish): it's in the warmest, most sheltered part of the garden. As for ice, snow and other severe weather, that's just part of living in the Reno area in winter. Cold happens.

The local birds are using my little pond for drinking water since it has a pump to keep the water moving year-round (with one of those whiskey-barrel waterfall liner things and about a 3" drop so the water gets oxygenated). In spite of three cats, the birds visit and not only drink but gorge on the birdseed we put out, the berries remaining on assorted shrubs and vines, and on all the seedheads of perennial stuff out front. Two out of the three cats are simply too fat and too slow to do more than sit outside near the bird food pan with their mouths open and hope a bird flies in. The third cat still manages to catch any birds who are too unwary or too weak, but that isn't many of them--less than one a month. And he's terrified of the jays, the woodpeckers and even the mourning doves, so he doesn't have much to stalk.

Lisa

Snow flurries in Pahrump this morning!!!! Snow covers all of our surrounding mountains too. Looks so pretty. Can't see Mt. Charleston yet but I know it'll be beautiful once the clouds move on...my dog is black and while I was outside looking at the snow flurries coming down-she was getting covered with snow. She couldn't figure out what it was (kept shaking it off)...I wish I had my camera then.
I am glad we did not get the winds with this storm but it IS very cold.

B~