[Ag-eq] What's up

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Nella and all.
I didn't mean to ignore you; I've just been swamped with work.
The weather in Phoenix sounds delightful just now, though I still wouldn't 
want to live in the desert.  It was really cold here last week, but now it's 
back to the 30's and 40's.  Last week, it was between 3 and 15. Brrr!  Most 
of my patio plants spend the winter in our attic.  It's insulated, but not 
heated.  It usually stays comfortably cool, but last week I had to cover my 
plants because it was downright nippy up there.  They seem to have come 
through OK, happily.  I won't know about some of my more tender perennials 
outside until spring comes.  We'll see.
Two of the plants I brought in for the winter are Chinese hibiscus, who are 
living in the dining room.  They're blooming a lot this winter!  Every few 
days, another big, beautiful flower opens up.  I need flowers in the winter. 
I'm also waiting for my amaryllis to wake up.  I've had the bulb for years. 
I put it outside when the weather warms up, and bring it in for a rest in 
the fall.  It's never ready to wake up in time for the holidays, but it 
usually has flowers in February or March.  My original bulb got so big it 
had a child bulb, so now I'll have even more beautiful flowers!

I'm starting to give a little thought to next year's garden, with all the 
seed catalogs rolling in.  I wish it was easier to read them.  But mainly, 
it's still too cold for me to really get into garden mode yet.

In the fall, I found one of my kale plants was just covered in insect eggs. 
I'm afraid I'm going to have a cabbage worm attack, come spring, even though 
I pulled the plant and tossed it.   I have to research organic controls for 
the little buggers.

Anyway, that's what's up with me.  Anyone else care to chime in?
Tracy