It is certainly not as cold as it is in other regions at or north of this latitude. Nor is it unusually cold for this time of year. It is not stormy. We got only a few heavy but brief rain showers with a bit of small hail. A slight bit of snow fell only on the Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains
The problem is that the weather had been so mild earlier, and at times, downright warm. Many plants were coerced into premature bloom. Some started to generate new spring growth. When the weather suddenly became more seasonably cool, many of the flowers and new growth got frosted and ruined.
Fortunately, most of the deciduous fruiting trees seemed to know what they were being set up for, and abstained from bloom. So far, even the early blooming apricots, cherries, almonds prunes and plums are safe. The wild American plums bloomed, but not many of us use their fruit anyway. (I want some – both amber and red – for jelly, but there will be plenty of other fruit.)
Saucer magnolias were just beginning to bloom when the cool weather moved in. Now, some of the big pink flowers are spotting and melting before they open completely. Many of the camellias are succumbing to blight, and falling to the ground shortly after they open.
Weather is always risky, even in mild climates. Actually, our mild climate allows us to grow more of the plants that are sensitive to anomalies of the weather. Perhaps such anomalies would be less of a problem in harsher climates where the weather is naturally more variable. If so, it is probably a fair compromise. The problems with such a mild climate are still less significantly less than the advantages.
Tony Tomeo 
He’s ready for the cold and looks cute in his sweater.
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That was Bill (short for Willow), prior to Rhody. He was cute out of his sweater too. In fact, he was cute in every situation. It is unbelievable how Rhody resembles Bill. He really disliked snow. While we were walking down a sidewalk in downtown Norman, he suddenly made a quick right turn into a door that someone had just come out of, while the door closed with me out outside at the other end of the leash. In all the tangled commotion, I met some of the staff of the local newspaper and got hired for a temporary job.
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Sorry, I thought it was Rhody. Both cute!
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Oh, there is no need to be sorry. They look so similar, and of course, both are ridiculously cute.
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So cute and I bet he was pleased to have a warm jersey on.
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He would have been more pleased if he did not need to go out in the snow.
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I would be staying indoors too
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My almond and one of my pears was in full bloom when it dropped below freezing for a few nights. Only time will tell if there was any damage!
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Pears?! That seems early. Ours bloom later with apples. Plums, prunes and almonds are blooming now, although I do not see the almonds from here.
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Reblogged this on Tony Tomeo and commented:
It is still the first week of February as I schedule this recycled article to post on the last day of February. I do not know what the weather will be like then (which is now). However, I can guess that after such pleasant earlier weather, that there has been some cooler and rainier weather, and it may be cool and rainy now (at the end of the month). It is not that the cool and rainy weather is a problem. The pleasant weather in between is what can be a problem for plants that prefer more of a winter.
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