Tuesday, November 12, 2013

First Winter Blast

The first winter blast came roaring in last night.
It is very cold & windy this morning.  At least the sun is shining.  I thought our flaming red maple would be missing many leaves this morning.  But, as you can see it's still full of color. 
Our flaming red maple has weathered many challenges.  Ice, snow & tornadic storms the last 9 years have taken some of its branches.  A storm this past spring took out a limb & left a huge gap.  The top is finally filling in after it was damaged in an ice storm 6 years ago.  

Our deck is now bare of  our warm weather plants & flowers.  We brought in the hibiscus tree & put it upstairs in the office.  Hopefully it can survive the long winter inside a warm house.

We planted these pansies Sunday afternoon.
I've always wondered why a weak person is called a pansy because the pansy flower is strong enough to survive a cold winter.  

7 comments:

Vee said...

Good point! Your pansies are going to provide you with some cheerful color through the winter.

Patsy said...

The pansy is a strong flower. I like to plant in late fall bright yellow, even if it snows they are a peace of sunshine.
Your tree and yard looks lovely.

Sis Sue said...

Very pretty Pansies.
I have wondered the same thing, maybe we should call them Victor. ; )

Anonymous said...

Hi Carol! Your tree is so pretty and you had better stay warm.
be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Stacey said...

We just had that pansy conversation the other day!! Everything looks so pretty at your house. It's a cold day here but yesterday was 75 and I wore flip flops. :)

NanaNor's said...

Carol, Your tree is gorgeous! We had a Silver Maple in Ca. that used to turn brilliant when the cold hit and we finally got a Autumn Blaze maple here but the hail storm in August destroyed many leaves. I love the Red Blaze you have. Pansies wouldn't survive our cold here though.
Thanks for sharing!
Hugs, Noreen

Suziq1023 said...

I have different hibiscus - they come back every year and love the heat. As for the pansy (my favorite flower) they sure can't take the heat ;). I know - crazy weather - 69 on Monday and georgeous and the warmest I got Tuesday was 33 (wind chill 29). Sometimes I think the weather in Oklahoma is what keeps our pioneer spirit alive. We sure do fight the elements.