A Little Surprise

There's something a lot of people from more northern climes don't understand about Phoenix. When we used to visit, I'd be very discouraged when we hit cool, windy and even rainy weather in December through February. The resort hotel pool would be heated, but it was dang cold to try and swim in it. I'd pack my shorts, crop pants, and sandals and end up freezing. Somehow, I'd always just think we hit a bad spell. I'd go shopping thinking I'd snag some shorts and summer clothes on sale and be shocked to see winter wardrobes on the racks. I thought -- who the heck would buy this stuff down here?

What I didn't understand then is that Phoenix actually has a winter. It's not a tropical climate! I didn't fully understand that until I moved here! I was so disappointed that first winter when I saw the beautiful flowering shrubs in the neighborhood turn brown.

Overnight temps from December through February dip down into the 30's and 40's and even below freezing, so blooming shrubs often look a little or lot worse for the wear. The green grass of summer has to be torn up and overseeded with rye in order to be green in the winter months. Blooms freeze and fade, and trees lose their leaves, looking like a fall landscape in colder climates. The first winter we lived here, we literally lost almost every plant and tree in our yard due to hard freezes down into the teens.

All the flowering shrubs in my yard look semi-comatose right now, so I was surprised yesterday when I saw this in my backyard!

The bottlebrush has pretty red blooms on it!

So -- it's time to get out in the backyard and start trimming and fertilizing! I can make the annual trip to the nursery to replace the plants that didn't survive the winter. And I guess it's also time to stock up on the Bengay!

I think we're supposed to be back into the 70's next week. It'll still be another month or so before I permanently put the long pants and long-sleeved tops away, but we're getting there!