BREEZING THROUGH THE FREEZE

We had two nights of significantly cold weather recently. Temperatures dropped into the 20s. It was a time to scurry around taking in all my frost-sensitive plants; the citrus, the succulents, the fern, and the cold sensitive cactus.
Many of the annuals died, their colors turning from yellow, orange, pink, purple and white to brown. Time to go looking for what survived.

 One of my favorite fall bloomers has come through with flying colors. I'm not sure who the little visitor was but he was gone once the sun warmed up the air.

Ajania pacificum, also known as Chrysanthemum pacificum, is blooming just as predicted. It took a little damage during the hot, dry summer but I just ran my fingers along the stem to remove the crispy leaves.  I think that I have underrated this plant. Given to me more than 10 years ago it languished beneath a yaupon holly, until I finally removed the tree two years ago. Then it just took off spreading by rhizomes to make a mat of silver-tinged green leaves, which reach a height of 1' during the growing season. It is very tolerant of our Texas heat and humidity.

Tucked beneath these stems are the new rosettes of next year's growth. I plan to move a few to other places in late winter. It has been suggested to cut the plants back by 1/3 in July to reduce their height. Although this has not been a problem for me I do see how the stems could become too heavy and lie down un her their own weight.

This might be a good plant for the rock garden.