Well, I should go pinch blossoms off my silly meyers that doesn't look good because it's inside for the winter and wanted to drop most of it's leaves...sigh.

How Dee neighbor, where do you resides in good old Arkansas? I am on Beaverlake, Eureka Springs area.

All the way over in the metro of Springdale.

Bob, what a great idea! I had no idea all that could be done at this time.

What do you mean by starting rose cuttings? You mean to root them? Will you be doing anything with the fig trees just yet?

You are always thinking my friend)

Mike

You have to realize it's just about early spring here...I have crocuses and daffodils in bloom. The bradford pears (darn them as invasive pests) will probably be in bloom in a couple of weeks.

Dbarron, how is that possible? Maybe you are having afreakish warmer weather to be hoit hard by another Arctic blast that kills everything? I hope not. That happened to me 2 years ago and I lost much perennials.

I picked up a satsuma twig the other day, it is sitting in a glass of water right now. It is not the freshest looking thing, but I am debating whether to try to graft it onto one of my other citrus. I attempted grafting some apple scions last spring without success, so I am a bit hesitant to go messing with my citrus.

Other than that, nothing garden related. It is about time to prune, though, and I need to be severe with the flowering quince. In fact I may take it out entirely, I am beginning to resent how much space it wants.

Because we're humid subtropical climate (check wikipedia). Spring usually starts in February (in my opinion) and by mid-March on most years, you're frost free.

Official frost free is April 1st I think, but we're USUALLY (not last year) ahead of that. Outdoors for house plants usually last till late October and sometimes till Thanksgiving, depending on the fronts. It's just how it is :)

Rosecutting to root in potting soil dip in hormone solution. Figs no time for those guys yet.

Will stick about 4 in the ground, have to dig some large holes for them after i root prune them first.

I moved 2 seed grown meiwa trees into the NZL greenhouse for the remainder of the cold season.

Steve

I warmed up some gallon water containers and put them out under a plastic sheeting covering the Satsuma, late at night, since the temperatures were expected to go down to 18.

I'm also getting warmer than usual February weather. I think the low pressure area in the north is sucking tropical air up from the Gulf of Mexico. My meyer is trying to push out some flower buds and the calamondin is even closer to flowering. A few trees are looking significantly yellow so I decided to go with a light early fertilization since some of the trees are clearly not dormant. I have also been spreading fruit peels around a few of the trees I want to give a boost in nutrients. It's been REALLY wet the last few months so the peels rotted and disappeared very quickly. Gotta figure out what to do with the kumquats and calamondins left on the trees. I usually have to pick them clean prior to a really hard freeze before now.

Socal, how in the world do you keep gallon conatiners warm long enough to even make a difference in those temps? It only takes about 4 hours in those temps up here for mine to freeze solid. I am thinking the water in those gallons must at least get cold rather quickly?

John, great for your orchids too...Ha You lucky duck you)))

I put them out late at night. The low point was forecast for early in the morning.

It actually wasn't extremely cold here. Stayed around 24 for the early part of the night, and then dipped down to 18 at 4:00 in the morning. I did a test run and warmed up a container. It still felt warm to the touch 2 hours later, surprisingly. (But maybe the plastic covering acted as a blanket to help hold in some heat, to some extent)

Actually before I warmed them up, the water in the containers were not entirely frozen. There was ice in there, but about half of it was still liquid. So far this year the containers have not gone completely frozen.

I don't expect the water containers to help that much, but temperatures here are right on the border of what Satsuma can survive in, and it was also covered. So just a tiny bit of help may help guarantee it will make it.

Socalnolympia, do you have the ability to put a string of Christmas lights (old school, not LEDs) out there? One should generate enough heat under a cover to do the job.

I am considering getting a jump start on upgrading to larger pots with many of my trees. From my back window I see a neighbor's dogwood blooming and a peach tree just about to burst into bloom. The majority of my trees are forming flower buds. Do I upgrade or not so the flowering process is not disturbed?

Bob, you are amazing with all that you do! Brian, I have been wondering how you were...oh my...that looks awful! When I complain about our weather, I will come back to this thread to look at these pics. How are your trees holding up?

I move a collard plant under a trash can light. It is 2 feet across and 1.25 tall.

Steve

Hey Brian!! I’ve been mentioning I mention you in certain threads and I don’t think you’ve seen them. That’s a lot of snow buddy. Stay warm. Your greenhouse looks like an escape!! Hugs

Brian, you can stay with us for a while and see if you can stand the heat in the summer.

Bob bags are packed breakfast at 7.00 am lunch noon sharp etc etc lol . Thanks my friend.

Laura I feel your pity thx lol.

Mikey buddy brutal here first day of sun in weeks talk it stinks . Go Pats go congratulations my friend. I'm retired now so will have a bit more time to communicate I hope . Hugs buddy.

Brian

Brain, My goal in life is to one day have a small greenhouse like you lol.... I like it alot and I wouldn't have to keep moving plants around inside my house.

That's a cool photo tho, the snow, all the lights and than you can see all the lush green through the Plastic or whatever material it is.

I started a batch of fig cuttings.... I started a couple pear cuttings and a grape cuttings. Some figs have started to root... The grapes have roots and the pears has top growth and callassing... Hopefully we get a warm Spring because I started alot of cuttings to be inside for another 2-3 months.

Dave greenhouse's sure do come in handy treat yourself . Only problem I have with mine is I usually have to remove the snow from the roof, the snow will not slide off on its own if the temperature is to cold. There have been a couple of nights I've been frozen out , below 0F the doors freeze . Dave you and I think a like I also love the view from the outside its better than the view inside but inside the climate is much more tame .

Thanks Dave

Brian

OMG Brian that hurts my eyes!!! :-o We've been able to dodge most of the snow here in SE PA so far this year although I know that last year, we ended up with 20" (51 cm) in March. Ugh. I am NOT hoping for a repeat. We are due for a parade of little storms the next couple days coming from the west although most of them seem to be forecast as a small amount of snow and/or mixed snow/sleet/freezing rain/rain. Winter can't end soon enough! I was happy to see my snowdrops come up for their 2nd year last Tuesday (had snuck them in a patch of ground next to my urn at the front of my house which is a rental) -

I also saw my (snuck-in) crocus foliage coming up on the other side of my front steps in a similar patch of ground so look forward to those blooming, assuming they don't get buried in some frozen stuff!

My to-do has been difficult the past month or so given I'm juggling major/minor hobbies at the moment and have been trying to keep the citrus in stasis - although I have been happy to harvest and use leaves from my Thai lime several times now! I am in the process of starting milkweed seeds though - by trying the "water sprouting" method (seeds in a cup of water on a heat mat), after which you pour the sprouts on top of some soil and cover with a sprinkle of additional soil to "plant" them (am going to try to get them planted either today or in the next day or so). So far am doing tropical, common, and butterfly weed types (already have a swamp milkweed plant outside in a container).

Hello Jenny love the pic of your snow drops it gives me hope that spring is just around the corner thankyou . Those little storms you mentioned are going to be monster storms up here a foot or more snow Tuesday Wednesday then another Friday into Saturday. Hopefully the freezing rain will stay south of us because they are calling for a major ice storm through New York state . Jenny I've just started some Seville seeds in hope of practicing some grafting through the next following winter . Love the idea of the Milk Weeds the butterflies really love them !!!!

Brian

Brian

You can graft them by mid summer . They grow fast. I grafted mine at 6.5 months old.

Steve thanks for the great info . Fingers crossed for end of July August.

Brian

around mid august

Septembers growth

break rootstock over and add additional light to the scion growth from sunset till midnight

NZL on seville at 5 months

no current pictures but there has been no growth since November's end

Steve

Steve you weren't kidding the Seville seedlings really do grow fast . Thanks for the instructions with pics Steve . I will probably need your help again at the end of the summer . Again great pics Steve thankyou .

Brian

rootstock tree was 1/8 inch diameter 3-4 millimeters

Steve

Steve, you don,t have to cut that deep. I just slice below the bark and expose as much of the cambium layer. Your ram cut is just to hold your sion in place for wrapping, very short, maybe just a 1/4” long. I would cut the ram cut first. If your angle is too wide, the tree treat it like a side branch and growth is somewhat slower.

I you have good luck with your grafting than continue, for me it is just another way of doing things.