Frozen...

[NYCorchidman]

I bought some plants today despite the weather because I ran into some that I really liked.
I normally do not buy plants in freezing weather.

Well, I walked just a few blocks and one flower was damaged by the cold and turned mushy.
The picture shows what it looked like when I got home and then it gradually turned mushy all throughout.

The good thing is that the second bud is still looking fresh.

A very strange thing is that I was carrying two other plants in bloom in the same paper shopping bag but they are not harmed by the cold.

I wonder if the thin paper cover was really that helpful because all but this damaged green flower were under the paper.

These are all vigorous plants with many many fans, so I'm excited about growing them.

The blemish on the other two flowers were already present at the store and I got some discount because of that.

[billc]

It's always a crapshoot when you buy blooming plants this time of year. It's been pretty brutal temperature wise in the NY area these past few weeks.

Bill

[Ordphien]

That sucks! But that middle one sure is pretty...

[katrina]

The bag trapped a warm bubble of air around the plant and protected it. I carry plants out in the cold to the monthly meetings and I always use a large garbage bag and do the warm air bubble thing and it's always done a wonderful job of protecting the plants and blooms.

No protection around the plant and even a few minutes of sub-freezing temps will cause damage...especially to flowers.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Ah to bad about the blooms. But you still have the plants.

[Optimist]

Gosh! I guess you had not planned on going to that store?I think that one of those cold hot grocery bags, the insuulated reuseable types, and maybe a heat pack would be a good thing to take with if the trip was planned.

[RandomGemini]

I find that paper sacks seem to protect blooms better.

[NYCorchidman]

So the green NOID bulldog whose flower was badly damaged by the cold, well his second flower is open now and this is how it looks.

Whatever it is, the dorsal is quite flat for a bulldog.
Amazingly glossy as well.
I will keep this plant for one year and see how many flowers it will throw out for me.

[RosieC]

Lovely purchases. Glad the damaged one flowered nicely with the second bud.

I always am amazed how much protection a simple thin bag can give for a short period carrying them outside. Since a similar experience I always make sure everything is covered when carrying it, even just to protect from the wind sometimes.

[NYCorchidman]

The flower turned gorgeous butter yellow for the last two weeks. It just fell off yesterday.