Temperature protection against possible frost

It's going to get down to 38 degrees later this week. What should I do for my plants? And I plan to plant some more things this weekend: lilacs, irises, tulips. What should I do for them? Mulch? Put stones around them? Fallen leaves? Bark? Wood chips? Plastic garden cloches? And what should I put over my zucchini, broccoli, and potatoes, if anything?

This will be my garden's first winter. And my first one in my new house.

WH ~ I'm not in as cold a climate but I'm thinking mulch. Leaves or pine straw, whatever you have available. If I remember, (grew up in Mn) tulips and iris should overwinter. We dug up begonias, glads and dahlias. I'm sure others will post more thought. Good luck! pod

Broccoli will stand temps into the 20's. Zucchini and potatoes (either Irish or Sweet) are very frost suceptible. They have to be covered at the first frost warning. Cloth works best, plastic is very effective. Hopefully the potatoes are ready to dig.

Irises and tulips will be fine. In fact, tulips will be fine until about december, regardless of the weather.

Lilacs should be fine if they are already in the ground. You could mulch them, if you are worried. Bring in the zucchini that you want to save, if it freezes it will rot. Broccoli is quite cold-hardy, and should get slightly sweeter after a cold snap. the actual potatoes are fine, but the plants above ground may die off if it actually freezes.

Relax and gather wood for your own comfort. Winter get here early and plants go to sleep and wake even more beautiful next year. Rest in the miracle of life continuing in the wonders of winter survival. I can see the roots already beginning to grow in the cool soils of fall.
We had snow 2 days ago at 5000Ft and above. Tonight it is going to 31 and snow possible tonight and tomorrow here in the valley (3000 ft) Oh boy skiing, resting by wood stove reading a book, and best of all no worries and work in the garden for 2 or 3 months.

Yes and reading plant and gardening books and seed catalogues... Almost makes me wish for winter. NOT!

Winter is just a nice cool break with occasional snow around here anyways. Think of all the things you can easily do in the winter that are hellish in the summer -- dig up junipers, clean & repair gutters. dig a hole for in-ground composting, wintersowing of seeds that need stratification, and my personal favorite -- cleaning every single blasted plastic pot so it shines and is ready for seedlings in March.

Also you can start a worm farm. They will makes lots of dirt for you between now and march, and all you have to do is eat your veggies & give them the scraps. What a deal!

There won't be any freezing temperatures for the next ten days at least, but it will get down into the thirties during the night. I don't think I'm going to get any broccoli this year. The plants are alive and growing, but they're not very big, and they show no indication of growing any broccoli sprouts. I also don't think the moonflowers will bloom before frost kills them.

Next year, I can start earlier.

This winter I can concentrate on the house. I'd like to set up a woodshop and do some home brewing, but that depends a lot on finances.

I used to drape old bed sheets over tender plants. That works great for light frost.
Andy P

This will make you laugh. DH was just looking at the hourly temp forecast for tonight, and he misread the "Feels Like" column (29*) for the actual column (40*).... he was panicking over MY roses. He's very cute when he panics....

What do your moon flowers look like? Are they the ones that get about 12' tall? I have been looking for years for one.

Well, I don't know what the moonflowers look like, because they haven't blossomed yet, and at this late date, they probably won't. But I got the seed packet from the grocery store, if I remember right.

I have a trellis with absolutely nothing to climb on it. Next year, I don't know if I want to try moonflowers again, or possibly clematis, or maybe climbing roses.

Related question here. I was all set to plant bulbs and rhizomes today, along with my small lilac trees that have been sitting on my patio table all summer, but they're predicting frost tonight and tomorrow night. I hate to put off planting even longer, but is it a good idea to plant today, with frost in the forecast?

I'm still trying to figure out a way to protect my zucchini. I think I can put garden cloches over the broccoli, and the potatoes underground won't freeze, but it's the squash I'm worried about.

my squash and zucchini bit it last night. There was enough condensation on the leaves that it formed a frost and killed 'em all. Which is OK, really, because I was planning to put int tulips where the squash were anyways. Neighbor kid had fun chopping them into "worm salad" for the compost, and I let him keep all the mini squashes that had just formed. It's all good!

If I can just keep them alive for the next couple of nights, they should be all right for the next week or two. After all I've gone through with these squash, I would really like to get one or two zucchinis out of them.

Frost is just about on schedule for Colorado, though.

Yep. The other thing to watch for is "cold sinks" in your yard. Cold air rolls downhill, and collects in low spots that don't have any air turbulence. I notice them when I am walking my dog in the early evening. Those are the areas that will frost up earlier than others. We have one spot here that ends up (because of the shade of a 3 story building + cold sink) a zone 4 in terms of timing for first and last frost.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2006 2:52 PM

WH, if you don't have any fleece frost blankets, then throw a bedsheet over your zucchini plants for the night. You can always wash the sheet later. Covering them can help keep the frost from "settling" on the plants overnight if it is a light frost. If you have a way to put some support under the sheet to keep it an inch or so off the plants, that would be best, but since it's probably dark there now, just toss the sheet over them and weight the edges down with some rocks, bricks, pots, whatever is on hand.

Yes all sloped land is usually free of serious frosts unless it is at the bottom of the valley. I have often hauled in my squash after many frosts. They are usually sweeter. hubbard, button etc.

My house and yard are on a slight hill. Everything slopes down.

I watered everything thoroughly (base of plants only!) yesterday afternoon in anticipation of more cold last night. A well-hydrated plant is less likely to suffer any damage.

WH - how did you zukes fair through the night?

Oh I almost forgot I want a moon flower which grows over 10' tall and has a stalk that jack could climb. Has anyone ever seen that one. I really really really want one.

I thought that they'd taken off the frost warning, so I thought we were in the clear. But no. It didn't get down to 36. It got down to *32*! I went out and checked tonight when I got home. The broccoli sailed through it. The potatoes look like they're flopping over a bit more, but it's about their time, anyway. The zukes look a little the worse for wear, not quite as sprightly as they were, and some of the leaves are limp, and a couple have dried out.

But they're still alive. If that freeze was going to kill them, I'd expect to come home and find several piles of compost.

So zucchinis are still a possibility this year. But I wish they'd hurry up and grow. The biggest one is only about the size of an eyeball.

I took the lilacs and the strawberries in. They're in containers, and I didn't want to risk it. I'm still worried about planting my lilac bushes this fall.

I'd tuck the zukes in at night to keep them a bit warmer. Take the sheet or tarp off in the morning. They slow down or stop growing if it's too cold. I did that with my seeds and transplants earlier in the summer. Row cover on in the evening when the temps were cool, off in the morning when the temps were warm. If really gave the plants a boost.