dead, not dead

You may be wondering why I'm posting photos of dead plants. Well, I've been so happy with this sweet alyssum on my porch, which survived my 4 month absence with aplomb, then survived through December, blooming its head off. This last cold spell was too much for it, though, and finally did it in. Very sad.

On the other hand, isn't calibrachoa supposed to be a tropical annual? Then why has it survived this long on the North side of the house despite single digit temperatures and snow? Although it isn't looking great, it certainly is far from dead. I'll just have to wait to see if it survives through spring. If so, I'm taking cuttings and planting it everywhere (which means, of course, the two open spots where plants died while I was away).

The ranunculus tubers that I brought back from California are coming up. I'm amazed by this, since I bought them (75% off!) as dried, hard tubers that looked deader than a doornail. Well, 2 of 8 came up, but the tubers do sprout erratically, so I'll just have to wait and see if the rest come up. They probably need more sun than I can provide them indoors, but I just had to see.