I have lived 99% of my life here in Florida, which means that I haven’t seen much snow. I was born a month after the last recordable snowfall in Florida, so I missed that. I do vaguely remember a few snow flurry, or at least icy, events back in the 80s. My siblings and I were so excited when we saw white stuff (frost) on the ground, which we, being Florida kids, thought was snow. We’d charge outside into the grass barefoot to kick at the icy stuff and make little frost patterns until our feet were good and blue.
Snow does not figure much into my life. I think I was 20 before I witnessed my first real snowfall. So you can imagine my surprise when I checked the weather forecast for Seffner on Tuesday and saw that there is a 3% chance of snow for Saturday night into Sunday morning. I have mixed feelings. There are a lot of pretty plants at the Nursery that do not want to get snowed on. But, not going to lie, it would be pretty fun to see snowfall here in our area. I know, I know, 3% is a miniscule chance and they are only talking about potential snow flurries. But still, it is sort of fun to dream of what our area would look like after a few inches of snow. I imagine traffic would come to a complete halt, since none of us are equipped to drive in ice or snow, but that just means a little more time snuggled in bed watching snow fall outside.
Of course, ice and snow would wreak havoc on all of our plants, so I guess the fact that snow is an outside chance is probably a good thing. But regardless of what type of precipitation falls, we are still in for a cold weekend. As of this writing (Wednesday night), we still have a few frost blankets left for purchase at the Nursery, but those are likely to go fast. Remember when you cover your plants to cover all the way to the ground (think ghosts, not lollipops) and anchor the blankets securely so that when it gets windy, they stay put. Be sure to cover early in the day to trap some heat in, and since we are faced with multiple cold days, you can leave frost blankets on for a few days as needed. Be sure to water plants thoroughly the day before we expect cold temperatures so that they have all the water they need in their systems, and never try to irrigate during cold – leave that to the citrus and strawberry farmers.
Stay warm! Seems like we are having a real winter this year, but I think it will make spring even sweeter. And with February almost here, it truly is right around the corner.
