Frozen pond after Austin's hard freeze
The predicted big snowstorm in Austin yesterday was a bust, as they almost always are—we saw a few flakes downtown; my kids saw a few more in north-central Austin—but the hard freeze arrived as predicted last night. By the time I checked the temps this morning, around 8 am, it was already above freezing, but the stock-tank pond is still partially frozen on top.
The taro has seen happier days.
A glass globe’s finish is made opaque by frost.
And the glass table on the deck is a miniature skating rink.
The tender succulents seem to have come through just fine, protected by a sheet thrown over them. But of course the annuals like sweet potato vine are mushy and the perennials like Mexican bush sage and cupheas will be turning brown after the sun burns off the ice crystals. It’s the first hard freeze my new-baby garden has seen, and it’s overdue since we never had one last winter. Maybe we’ll see an end to the mosquitoes for a few months.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Eerilly beutiful photos. It’s chilly here too with winter storm warnings, snow in the mountains but we won’t freeze. We should be celebrating with rain.
omg, I wasn’t even thinking about this getting rid of the mosquitos! That’s fabulous, Pam, cause I couldn’t believe that we had mosquitos on Thanksgiving. All hail the wonderful deep freeze.
We are frozen here too. Love all of those frosty photos.
The ice covered pond is beautiful. I’m glad your succulents survived the freeze! I love the color combination in that picture! Is that an outdoor rug/mat I’m seeing?
Yes, it is, Robin. I plan to paint my Adirondacks on the upper patio to match one day soon. —Pam
Hello Pam,
Your pictures of the ice on your pond are just beautiful, clearly showing the formation of the ice crystals. I just love great photo opportunities, especially when I am there to actually capture them with my camera 😀
An end to mosquitoes is reason to celebrate. I noticed the plants i didn’t get into the ground are still frozen solid~~It will be 22 degrees tonight~Will you have more freezing temps? gail
We just had the one night at freezing, Gail. So far. But I expect we’ll freeze again a few more times this winter. —Pam
What will you do about the taro? I have a couple of plants that have that droopy mushy look and am thinking I need to go out this afternoon & cut off the damaged parts. Fortunately, most things came through fine.
We’re supposed to have warm weather later this week and I’m wondering about whether to prune the esperanza and lantanas (which usually get pruned back to the ground–and which had some damage last night) now or wait until we’re more reliably cool. What do you think?
Another topic, and forgive me if you’ve talked about this recently, we were out of town and out of touch, have you had scores of robins lately? The last few days they’ve flocked the junipers and beauty berries for the berries. We’ve even had a few Cedar Waxwings. Didn’t see a one last year and I didn’t expect to this year after the drought. Nice surprise.
I will cut back the taro and wait to see if it will return in the spring. I’ve never grown one in a pond before. As for the browned esperanza and lantana, I usually do cut those back at this time of year because they aren’t very attractive. But I leave up my grasses and seed-bearing perennials until mid-February. Yes, you may get new growth during winter warm spells, but if it gets refrozen I found that mine always came back with no problem.
And no, I haven’t seen any robins yet. I usually see them, IF I see them, on greenbelt trails, not in my yard. I’m not sure whether they’ll find the new garden more attractive than my former one. —Pam
Makes my feet cold just looking at it. Oh wait. My feet were already cold…
Oh my! It will be interesting to see if the ponds plants will survive and resprout from the submerged rootstock. Unless you just plan to toss them and get new.
The papyrus returned last year, although it was warmer then. I’m hoping they’ll all survive, but we’ll see. —Pam
That’s quite a freeze. But if the mosquitoes were killed off by it, then that’s a good thing!
I’m sorry you have lost some plants. The ice on the stock tank looks strange. I did see Houston got snow.
I’m hoping that if it freezes here the mosquitoes will meet their demise.
Hi Pam.
It was quite a hard freeze indeed. I am quite relieved that the mosquitoes will finally be done.
My stock tank did not freeze, I guess the pump and water circulation is enough to stop ice forming. How did your fish handle the sudden temperature drop. Mine always hug the bottom of the tank when temperatures fall. I have also now switched to flake food rather than the pellets to help them digest it a little easier. I lost almost all of my tropicals with this snap…classic Austin, end of summer gardening one minute, then overnight into the winter garden. It keeps us on our toes.
I loved your globe shot Pam, it would be right at home on the front of a science-fiction novel. I had to look at it a few times to understand what I was looking at…I love that!
I have a bad feeling that we will be having worse weather than this, this year.
Ever the optimist…
ESP 🙂
That was quite the optimistic finish to your comment, ESP! 😉 The fish in my stock-tank pond go to the bottom also when it gets cold. They get very sluggish but seem fine and get frisky again when it warms up. You know, I almost never feed my fish at all, and never in the winter. They survive well on mosquito larva, algae, and plants in my pond. I bet yours like you better than mine like me though.
I didn’t realize you were in a frost zone. We had a hard frost this morning.
Cameron
PS My neighbor (you know who) is moving to Austin next week! He was in the house only from April, and is selling already. One son of ours is looking into buying the house.
Oh, I hope he doesn’t move in near us! 😉 And yes, we do get a handful of light freezes and at least a couple of hard freezes each winter, on average. Last year was not average, and in-town Austin didn’t freeze at all. This year is predicted to be a bit colder than usual, I think. —Pam
As much as I dislike the work a hard freeze brings (because darn it, I always try to save certain plants from dying) I am fascinated by the photo opportunities frost and iced over water elements yield as a result.
Today as long as I stay indoors and look at photos (rather than going out to survey damage now apparent) I am a happy gal. Thanks for sharing these breathtaking photos from your place.
And I do find it wry that so many people think it never freezes here. Don’t I wish!
There is such beauty amidst the damage of a frost/freeze. The death of mosquitoes is a wonderful bright spot
Nice photos! Will the pond plants come back?
The water lilies will. I’m not sure about the others but will make a full report in late spring. —Pam
Love the photo of the stock tank on ice! Too bad about the snow.. Well, we haven’t had snow here in the 20+ years I’ve lived here. It shows up in the hills, just 1000 feet higher, and parents drive their kids up to have a look.
The crystals in the frozen pond look beautiful, Pam and how we love the idea of no more mosquitoes!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Pam, the semi frozen pond is looking beautiful. I am sure plants in there will survive. succulents are looking pretty and i am glad they survived. they do survive in my mild climate as well.
Wow, that looks cold, and yet, somehow beautiful. H.
The crystals on the pond are beautiful and very interesting.
We were very cold here. I guess we’ll all have to wait to see if things made it through.
I’m glad all of your perennials are mostly fine. I may have lost my Agave americana because I got sick and didn’t move it up next to the house in time. The deck gets colder than the ground. I’m bummed, but it’s all a learning process. Sorry, your kids didn’t get to see more snow. Bear is longing for some. It’s just cold here 28F.~~Dee
I’m sorry to hear about your agave, Dee. It’s a difficult time of year for agaves in non-desert gardens. —Pam
We just arrived home and checking your blog I see your icy tank. What does this mean for my garden I wonder? I won’t know until tomorrow morning!
I’m sure your garden got colder than mine. I hope everything that needed protection got it before your trip, Jenny. I look forward to seeing your post-freeze post. —Pam
My garden looks very different than it did a few days ago. If it means fewer mosquitoes, I can live with it!
Really nice shot of the blue globe and the pond…we don’t get much of a chance to play with
frost patterns!
So will you keep the taro, etc in the stock pond over-winter – and will they come back next spring? I know that mine in the ground here will return – but wasn’t sure what the difference might be with soil providing winter protection vs water (although you do have it in a pot still – just not in the ground).
I will keep it in the pond, cut back (when I get around to it), and wait to see if it will return, Pam. Taros return in the ground here too, but I haven’t had one in a raised pond before. —Pam