How Cold This Winter Really Was

 A casual conversation during a walk sometimes explains things that had puzzled me for weeks. The damage in my garden finally made sense.

I have an abstract due tomorrow, but after pushing myself too hard yesterday, I cannot seem to get motivated today.

So instead, I went out for a walk with my wife and our dog, Ann.

 

Along the way we stopped and chatted with a florist we know. I mentioned that all of my flannel flowers had died this winter.

“Yes, we’ve been hearing that from many customers around Kamakura,” she said.

She told us that during a particularly cold spell in January, many plants had been damaged.

“At that time, the temperature dropped to minus three degrees in Enoshima,” she explained.
“It wasn’t just frost. The air itself was so cold that the inside of the plants froze and they died.”

So that was the reason.

 

Even my ponytail palms, which had always survived winter without any problems, had turned completely brown this year.

This winter really was cold.
If something is kept inside a refrigerator for long enough, of course it weakens.
The mystery finally made sense.

Perhaps because of that conversation, and because the weather was so pleasant, I spent the entire afternoon working in the garden after returning from our walk.

 

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