First frost - sort of

The average first frost date for my area is December 10, and last night, right on schedule, we did have our first frost. It didn't actually amount to much. It wasn't what we used to call on the farm a "killing frost," but it did put an end to the tenderest of the tender.

The banana plants, for example, were well nipped.

And the old cannas by the fence are as brown as that fence today.

There'll be no more brugmansia blooms this year.

The tops of the Hamelia patens received the brunt of the frost. Underneath the plants are still green, but there'll be no more blooms from them this year either.

The most exposed parts of the Turk's caps along the southern wall of the house got nipped back, but the overall plant is well-protected and still providing blooms for my overwintering hummingbirds.

One of those hummingbirds, a female Rufous, was getting as close as she could to the sun today on this exposed branch.

The Copper Canyon daisy, which is actually rather a tender plant, did not appear to be damaged and is still blooming.

And this crinum which was just about to burst into bloom is still just about to burst into bloom

It looks like the temperature may get down to 32 degrees again tonight which will probably mean a bit more frost. Just two weeks until Christmas, so it's about time we had some cold weather!