Friday morning, January 12, we woke to an inch of snow. Yes in Loma Linda, California, elevation 1160 feet. Here are some images from our neighborhood park. I don’t think the citrus trees enjoyed it very much, but the kids had a blast! Snow flurries and hail fell all morning long. At 9:30 a.m. though the sun came out and it was goodbye snow. By midafternoon the snow was like a dream, but the icy-cold wind stayed around to remind us.

My personal garden survived the snow just fine, but after four nights of icy frost, I lost four hibiscus, the basil, and my last tomato plant. This is why I prefer gardening in quilts. As fragile as fabric and thread are, they’re super-hardy in comparison to real plants. For some reason, my new sugar snap peas are doing fine so far, and we are looking forward to enjoying them this summer. Do you think the frozen hibiscus will revive or should I just yank them out of the ground?