I wandered by my little fig tree yesterday when I was photographing fall color—I even gently tweaked a couple of the remaining figs to see if there was a chance of them ripening. I thought not, but today the answer is definitely no.
We have had a couple of nights in the last few with frost enough to do in the hostas’ leaves, but the fig was fine as of yesterday afternoon. Today one leaf remains attached, as are five frozen figs. I ate the last ripe one that the chipmunks missed on Wednesday.
Time to wrap it up for winter. It was 12°F this morning, and has not gotten above freezing all day; the weather prognosticators are expecting a low of 14°F tonight. No worries; it is supposed to get into the upper 40s next week, but they are predicting polar vortex storms before Thanksgiving. Brrr.
And a Couple of Days Later…
The magnolia and the pawpaws did not respond well to the weather, either. Generally the leaves on both of these small trees turn yellow and fall.
The pawpaws were just starting to turn, but two nights in the teens have left the trees covered with mostly olive drab leaves. The leaves that were that beautiful luminous yellow are now a somewhat rusty orange.
The magnolia, was just starting to change color before the freeze—it had reached a bright chartreuse. A few leaves had turned completely yellow.
The magnolia did not react as badly as the pawpaw.
I suspect that they will be fine in the spring, but they look a bit sad right now—especially the pawpaws.