Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Chilly Weather Headed Our Way

It looks like winter is arriving here in Florida. We started out with unseasonally cool temps in November, followed by a warm December. But now that we are officially in our winter months (January & February), our first taste of really cold weather is headed our way. We'll have to bundle up our plants and bring our orchids indoors.

My mother came up with a great suggestion for my sister. She lives in a rural area where temperatures can be lower than in the city and she has a large number of orchids. My mom suggested that she place all of her orchids on a small trailer (used to haul 4-wheelers). She can easily bring them into the garage, and then pull them out again when it warms up.



I thought that was a great idea and it got me thinking about how I could simplify the task of hauling our 44 orchid plants in and out for the next couple of months.



Voila'! Thanks to my mom's idea I came up with a solution to my orchid conundrum. I used an outdoor table and cart (do you recognize these Jane?). I placed as many orchids as possible on these two pieces of outdoor furniture and now my husband and I can easily lift them and bring them into the house when necessary.




When it warms up, we place them right outside the back door on the patio for easy watering. I can't get all of my orchids on them, but it has significantly reduced the number of trips required to get them all indoors. My mom always comes up with good ideas!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good idea.
The Lows from your forecast look like the highs from mine. :)

Hildegard said...

Thanks for the compliment susan, isn`t that what Moms are supposed to do?

Anonymous said...

The temperatures here in The Maritime provinces are to dip near the -5°F mark this weekend. Your temps seem balmy by comparison. That is cold for Florida, I understand. Great idea for moving your orchids around - I suspect they don't like the cold at all?

Susan said...

Zach...Welcome! I know we look like a bunch of sissy's down here. But 50's are cold to us.

Mom...Yep, keep up the good work!

Nancy...I can't even begin to imagine what -5 feels like. I would have to go into hibernation.

Anonymous said...

We are going into freezing tonight and then Friday we're supposed to have temps in the LOW TEENS! Tallahassee is going to be frigid! eek!

Susan said...

Susie...Eeks s right! That is too cold for Florida. Stay warm!

Anonymous said...

Hey Susan, Found your link from Hoe and Shovel. My name is Susan also and I live in the Tampa area. As I just had to bring in my orchids the other night for the cold snap (not my favorite thing as a gardener here) I appreciated you and your mother's idea for the trips our babies have to make back and forth into the house. I even just bought 3 more at the Antique fair at Renninger's so they are indoors too until it warms up a bit. Thanks for the idea.

Susan said...

Anonymous...I know what you mean. Our orchids have been on the kitchen table for a week now, and I brought more plants in for last night's super freeze. I'm ready for a warm-up!

Anonymous said...

Susan,
Last night was brutal on my back yard. Those one day freezes are a nemesis to me. But the orchids are inside on a table like your low black one, that I found at Webster, thanks to you. I may have passed it by had I not seen your blog. Thanks! It works perfectly.
Happily, Susan

Susan said...

Susan...Glad that my mother's idea worked so well for you too. It really has made bringing them in pretty effortless this winter. I've got the back door open today and am enjoying placing all the orchids back outside where they belong.

Do you have a blog?

Anonymous said...

Sorry Susan,
I haven't joined the blog world yet. Once I figure it all out I'll let you know. I'm only now getting set up with photos at Flickr. A blog can't be far behind. I do love sharing.
The orchids will have to wait until the weekend to make it back out to the lanai. I want to have the time to assess the frost damage (quite bad) to the rest of the yard first.
Thanks
Susan

Anonymous said...

Yay for Moms! They have the BEST ideas! (Unless they tell you to finish your peas when you're 47 years old. Then those moms get the 15-year-old Look.)

Susan said...

Anonymous...I'm betting it won't be long before your blogging your little heart out like the rest of us. Let me know where I can find you at flickr.

Penny...You got that right!

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