Please Don't Let it Happen Again

My friends and family have heard me talk for 2 years about the damage we had here in Fairfield Glade and in many places in Middle Tennessee after the horrible Freeze of 2007 (April 5-9). Many flowers and trees had just begun to bud/bloom when the freeze hit us. They were just too vulnerable ---and couldn't withstand the low temperatures for several days.

We had had gorgeous weather during late March---and the temperatures made it feel as if it was Summertime . The leaves on the trees had begun to open. The Redbuds and Dogwoods were in full bloom. The azaleas were about to bloom, and many other spring flowers and shrubs were growing like crazy. Then Mother Nature sent us a BIG message---reminding us that she is still 'in charge.'

George and I had and still have alot of flowers/trees/shrubs/plants in our yard. We also had 23 rose bushes ---which were just beginning to grow and flourish that year. We KNEW that the freeze was coming--so we did the only thing we could do (take all of the sheets we had and cover the roses). We didn't have enough sheets to cover anything else---so, because of that, we lost most of that year's Lilies, Daylilies and Tulips.

The Redbuds, Dogwoods, and Azaleas were all BROWN. The new green leaves on the trees turned BLACK. I couldn't make myself even look at all of the damage for several days. It was VERY upsetting ---and yet, nothing we had any control over!

We were able to take all of our hanging baskets, potted plants, and our fern back into the garage --where they were fine. And luckily, after all was said and done, most of our roses DID make it through the freeze with little damage. George had to cut them back quite a bit and most of them didn't give us many blooms that year. BUT--at least, most of them lived.

Here are some pictures taken that year. The one above shows some of our roses covered --in preparation for the cold front! Below are more pictures--taken AFTER the freeze.







All of the new leaves on the big shade trees around here totally turned black...





This is what the trees (ones with new, vulnerable leaves on them) looked like throughout the Cumberland Plateau and middle Tennessee that year after the freeze.







Can you recognize our RedBud (on the left) and the Dogwood (on the right)---after the freeze???? They were so gorgeous before the freeze. I will show some 'before' pictures sometime. You won't believe it!







Here is a close-up view of some of those new leaves on the trees---which just turned black... I had never seen anything like this before--although I'm sure it had happened in past (and will in the future, unfortunately).







Our gorgeous Lilies in the lamppost flowerbed just turned to MUSH...







Our side flowerbed had gorgeous Tulips blooming ... They just wilted. The Daffodils had bloomed out--so they weren't affected like the Tulips, Lilies and Daylilies.









This is what our gorgeous Pink Azalea looked like after the freeze... Yuk!









The lilies were so tall and beautiful before the freeze. They just fell over and then died... Poor things!









Here's another picture of the brown/black leaves on the trees --after the freeze. It's kinda ironic to see that --with the beautiful blue sky in the background, isn't it???


NOW---the reason I posted this was to ask for good thoughts and prayers for us for this upcoming week, specifically April 6-8. (NOTE: it's almost the same dates as the Freeze of '07.) The weather people are saying that our temperatures will go in the 20's with snow this upcoming week. Again, we will do what we can to protect everything--but there's only so much one can do when it comes to dealing with Mother Nature.

The good news so far is that we didn't have a warm March this year ---so there are very few new leaves on the trees, and the Azaleas and Dogwoods have not bloomed yet. AND---this freeze won't last as long, nor will it be as cold as it was consistently in '07. SO---hopefully, everything will be okay... BUT--just send a few good thoughts asking Mother Nature to be good to us this week!!!! Thanks!
Hugs,