Ice in Jamul

Debbie came running into my office at daybreak yesterday, telling me that I absolutely had to come see something. I went into the living room and she just pointed outside. A small Italian Stone Pine (pinus pinea) in our yard was covered with ice!

This isn’t quite as crazy as it might appear at first blush. First, what I didn’t show you in the photos is that the ice is very localized to just the bottom branches. Second, what you most likely don’t know is that I have a sprinkler set up to put water on this plant every morning at 4 am. In our hot, dry summer heat, the early morning hours are the best time to sprinkle water. In the winter, however, on those rare mornings when we have a below-freezing temperature, it’s not such a smart thing!

I’ve turned the sprinklers off for the winter…