Killer Frost

Yesterday morning, we had a huge, white, killer frost with temperatures of around 30 degrees. All the vegetation around the yards was beginning to bloom out and some sprouting leaves. The Wisteria vines across the west side of the new shop had bloom buds beginning to open up, but in the afternoon, they only hung wilted on the vines with no apparent life. The J-berry (an improved mulberry) tree was loaded with small berries and budding leaves. In the afternoon, it looked like someone poured hot water on them as they were all brown and lifeless. The bridal wreath bushes all around the yard were beginning to bloom out, but were turning brown by afternoon. This was true at most all other shrubbery around the yards. Even though the pear trees are usually susceptible, our tree had pretty well "bloomed" and leafed out, I don't think it was bothered very much by this frost. Also, I don't think it hurt the azaleas as they had only began to bloom around the bottoms of the plants. All 4 dogwood trees were abloom, but it doesn't look like they suffered much damage.

As we were growing up, it seemed like every year, there came what was called "an Easter snap" that would kill back trees, flowers and shrubs. While we lived in East Tennessee, the saying there was called "Easter Winter!" I'd never heard the many other names for cool snaps in South Alabama, but it seems that Tennessee had several names. There would be "Dogwood Winter," "Blackberry Winter," and several other "Winters" each time we would have a cool spell.

We can come up with many names for cool spells in the Springtime, but only God knows when, why and how these things occur and we have absolutely nothing to do with them.

We just know that we should enjoy all the beauty that God gives us while all his plants paint a new and wonderful picture of the start of another Springtime.