The last things I salvaged out of my garden

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Joan Belfield, ND(Zone 4a) Sep 22, 2002

It's going to freeze tonight. It's only 34 degrees now and the coldest part of the night comes right before sunup here, so it could easily be 28 or 29 degrees by early morning. The forcast says 32 degrees, but they are conservative I've learned. I picked a lot of my tomatoes, squash, onions, beets, carrots, peppers and such the past two days, and have the rest of the tomatoes covered tonight. Last thing I did tonight was cut these glads as they were just too pretty to let freeze. I have all my vases packed to move already, so they are in a pint canning jar but still very pretty I think. My question...is it okay for the glads to frost before I dig the bulbs? I read that they should be going into dormancy before I dig them, and since they are still blooming, I didn't dig them, but will after they frost. I'm doing the same with my caladiums. Should I be doing something different? If I should have already dug them, I already am too late, but I will know better next year if I should have done it differently.

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Joan Belfield, ND(Zone 4a) Sep 22, 2002

Opps, forgot to attach the photo. I'm sure glad Dave changed it so we can add photo's in the middle of a thread.

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golddog Western, PA(Zone 6a) Sep 22, 2002

Hi JoanJ, Since this is a frost and not a freeze, I think your plants will now be ready to bring indoors. I know with Cannas, to store them, first they must die off at the top with frost.

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Joan Belfield, ND(Zone 4a) Sep 22, 2002

Thank you golddog. I'll keep an eye on them and dig them as soon as they die off on top. I forgot to mention that I have some cannas and cala lilies too. This is my first full year flower gardening, and I'm still learning the whole process I need to do here in the north. Right now I have my brugs in the house and I'm going to try to figure out how to let them go dormant in the basement when they finish blooming. I want to give all my flower babies the best chance possible.

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lupinelover Grove City, OH(Zone 6a) Oct 02, 2002

Ouch, Joan, a frost the first day of autumn. Do you get Indian summer?

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Joan Belfield, ND(Zone 4a) Oct 02, 2002

Yes, we usually have a beautiful indian summer. I love the warm days when the leaves are falling and the air smells like fall.

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