Snow Damage in Burleson, Texas

April 07, 2010

SnowDamage1

Photographer
: Loren Ann Stiles
Summary Author: Loren Ann Stiles

My Missouri Foxtail cactus (Escobaria missouriensis) here in Burleson, Texas usually puts on a reliably beautiful flowering show each spring (top left – taken last spring). However, this past February we received a record breaking 12 in (30 cm) snowfall, which was five inches (13 cm) more than the previous record. Our average annual snowfall is only two or three inches (five to eight cm). My cactus pot is barely visible in the top right picture, and the oleander in the background is weighted to the ground by the unprecedented snowfall. The cactus does quite well despite my neglect; though, I finally checked on it in mid-March and discovered that it had been ravaged by the cold and snow (bottom right). Oleanders are members of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) and normally have few problems with the fickle North Texas winters, but note the damage after the big snow (bottom left). I don’t have my hopes up for a bountiful flowering display here this spring. Photos taken on March 26, 2010.