Unpredictable Texas Weather at its finest…
Sweet Pea Mix February 23, 2025
February Freeze
We only thought our winter weather had come and gone in January this year when we received ~4-6” of snow which is not typical of my zone 8a. There was word we would expect a major drop in temps this February which triggered an array of emotions on my new flower farm. My husband helped and we quickly covered the raised bed with the only thing we had on hand, burlap. Mistake #1.
I would say this was my first wakeup call as a new flower farmer. There is one major key factor out of my control - weather. You can plan, organize and successfully plant all the things. But in the end, one random February frost can take it away.
After about a day of just sadness and defeat (I’m over, can’t you tell?!) I took a deep breath and accepted the situation. After a few days of watering and nurturing hoping for a miracle, one came (thank you Lord!). Out of 60 Sweet Peas that I carefully grew from seed and planted in my raised bed ~15 survived the frigid random cold. Although majority of the living parts of the plant died there are small buds coming out of the lower nodes. Some say it’s a natural pinching when the top of the plant dies off. I’m still hopeful these will thrive and grow enough to cut a few since it’s starts heating up in April-May.
With any challenge I try to think of ‘Lessons Learned’. For this scenario, I’ve come up with the following:
Cover both Fall and early Spring sown seeds with true frost cloth or plastic. Burlap with it’s small holes won’t cut it.
I think that’s it haha.
As a momentum, see below the stages of their short life. They sure were pretty weren’t they!?
