Happy New Year - 2025 is starting cold and staying cold as this feels like a 'normal' winter. It has been several years that we have seen hard freezes - and this year has not disappointed. As we near the end of January - we are going to be even colder (teens) and drier than normal. This extended cold will kill off lots of the insect larva, eggs, tics, flees, fire ants, and many other things that want to sting you in the summer. The cold also helps perennial plants that  need a hard freeze to enter proper dormancy, which helps them conserve energy during winter and prepares them for robust growth in spring