Hi,
Are lily sprouts adaptable to frost or will they be nipped in the bud? Just thinking this warm weather maybe " a wolf in sheeps clothing"...
Andrew
Lilies and frost danger?
Two years ago most of IA got a late frost, and we all had cruddy looking blooms or none at all. The problem is that little flower bud is there so early, and it doesn't like frost. I'm not particular abt twisted looking leaves, but I really want to see those flowers! I'm sure I'll be covering them this year - it's so early! I don't have any up yet so here's hoping for some cooler weather (did I just say that!?!).
Andrew, they are at risk for frost damage. I either put a cardboard box over them or a blanket or even a plastic bag.
I always wondered how a simple thing like a sheet/blanket could keep plants from freezing?
Hmm, maybe this will help...
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/chemung/publications/frost-understanding.pdf
Sometimes on calm nights, all that is needed is a barrier above the plants that need protection. A sort of roof that prevents frost from "falling out of the sky" onto them. You may have experienced this already with like plants that are under trees (evergreens especially) verses those out in the open. Or even on the same plant, where outer, upper leaves with frost on them froze, but those just inside or below without frost on them did not. They were protected from the actual frost, and thereby the temperature that (in simple terms) comes with it. On a cold night without frost, basically the whole plant would (or would not) die.
Cover them, by all means! Yes, even a plastic bag works. Frost is dew, frozen. Water freezes at 0C or 32F, and if it's on your plants, it will freeze, whereas the water in the cells of your plant contain sugars which lower the freezing point, like the glycol in antifreeze. If they're protected from the dew/frost by being covered, they stand a better chance of surviving. The might also benefit from the residual warmth in the soil. Also, as the frost melts and evaporates, it cools down the plant cells, much as a mist on your arm cools the skin as it evaporates.
(Just a theory of mine. Maybe I'm wrong. But I do cover tender plants when we're expecting a frost, not unusual in Canada, and it works.)
EEK.....I found some lilies coming up. I plan to add about a foot of mulch before we dive back down in temps this weekend. I also see Iris, Tulips, Coreopsis, and Spiderwort. I bought some of that floating row cover last Fall for those 2 nights in May when it dips below zero. Geesh, maybe I ought to put it out now.
I dumped an extra 4-5" of bark mulch on most of my lilies last fall, hoping to keep them asleep longer. :)
Well, someone told me it hit above 80 yesterday. Sure felt like it. Today, it's not so warm, but I expect I may see a few more popping up here and there when I get home tonight.
Are there any spring plants that can handle below 32F temps? Crocus, hyacinths and tulips come up early so I would expect them to be able to handle some below freezing???
All those mentioned Andrew, laugh in the face of frost. I don't worry too much about those plants. I've seen snow covered tulips at my house some years.
In 2005 I left my Lilies uncovered during a heavy frost. (The sheets I tried to cover them were pulled off by a playful puppy!) My orientals froze & died to the ground. My asiatics made it up, but most were deformed or had brown buds.
Last year, I was ready for the late frost. It's not high tech, but it worked! Here is what happened: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/596759/
I didn't have a 'Wonder' dog and the sheets did the trick for me last year. :) '05 was soooo pathetic, it was enough to make a gal cry!!
And the bunnies made a buffet out of the few lilies that survived the hard freeze in my yard. 2 nights in a row at 28 degrees April 29 &30. It came in and killed 3/4 of my iris buds and all the leaves on the lower 15 foot of my trees. Yep. Enough to make me cry.
I've got 200 paperbags & nails ready for this April's late frost!
I'll be VERY surprised if you don't need them. It's warm waaaaay too early.
I use small, inexpensive terra cotta pots, flipped upside down, to protect lilies from early frosts. You can use cheap plastic pots if you can weigh them down with inexpensive terra cotta saucers from the pots. They have the virtue of not coming into contact with the plants, but they stay in place.
I know I don't have enough pots to cover the lilies, but it's an idea. With it this warm , this early, I expect the lilies to be 5-6 inches high by last frost in late April. Cold today but 70s tommorrow.
We anticipate a low of 28 later this week, after reaching 70 a few days ago. Hey, life in the Midwest!
In our area they are predicting 4 nights in a row of mid-20's this week. I have stuff that is 6" high already - OH NO!!!
I hear ya :*( My honey suckle vine is 75% leafed out already. No lilies up yet though.
Same here. I'm sweating the forecast for 3 nights below freezing, especially after it's supposed to be 78° here today. That should really make things pop.
I figure I'm happy if those lilies don't show. Everything else that's up will bounce back from a little frost. I've had blooming tulips hanging their blooms straight down, completely white with frost and come back from work and they're just as pretty as can be, waving in the breeze. Never lost a single one. I am wondering abt the frits tho. Seems to me that they got frost damage two years ago. Anyone have experience with them and frost?
My lilies are still all cozy and not even peaking out. All I have up is Crocus chrysanthus, tulip spp. one Pulmonaria, Helleborus Royal Heritage, Primula spp. and Pulsatilla spp. showing enough to be vulnerable. I am wondering where my Lycoris squamigera's are? They are usually showing by now, I think I remember. So far, that may be my only winter casualty. After that deep, deep freeze right after a long rain last November, I thought a lot of things were done for. But I even have Pardanthopsis dichotoma (Vesper Iris) and Iris forrestii showing life.
I have tulips popping everywhere and some of the lilies that are close to the house are up (some quite a bit). I intend to move some mulch around tonight and top those lilies that are up with a pot. I bought some of that floating row cover last fall, but I don't think it is intended for 6 inches of snow and cold for a week. I just heard that the Twin Cities can expect 2 to 6" of snow tomorrow (per Belinda); the lighter snow in the southern metro areas. The temperature lows are suppose to be in the 20s for the rest of the week.
I rushed outside with a mini rake to cover up my lilltle babies. degrees & spitting snow? The glories of April in Iowa....
I dropped some leaves on various plants, but who knows if it will work. I checked my lilies and the only one that just broke ground was a Scheherazade that is next to the south wall. So I put about 6 inches on top of that. Boom or bust this year for gardening?
A nice link showing temps around the world...
http://www.findlocalweather.com/weather_maps/temperature_north_america.html
Neat site, intercessor. I bookmarked it.
Only 18 deg. here and snow flurries this afternoon too. yuck! As of last night, I had zero lilies up but I did cover two frits. Probably a hopeless cause but I've had them 4 years and I was so hoping for blooms this year. (pout pout)
I covered the lilies(if the howling winds didn't remove it all) , but I saw all the tulip leaves limp and frozen this morning. :(
Dang not even gonna get above freezing today. Lilies may be the only thing I have left this year????? :*( BigAL now my concern went to worrying ;*) . Hopefully it wont be like that Little House on the Prairie episode where Charles looks at his crop after hail or something and it is totally gone...
Worry wort this week,
Andrew
Fill some gallon milk jugs with warm water and put them into your bed tonight. Cover them with the sheet or whatever. They'll be fine.
This cold snap is suppose to last a while, Andrew. Makes me wonder how all these things survive this hot/cold/hot/cold every year. It happens every year.....
I thought last year stayed warm with out frost from mid April. This is my first full year with a semi "mature" garden. So I guess I can't say I have ever really payed attention, though I would have to say I don't recall everything budding out in the last week of March and growing this vigorously in the 1st week of April. The true test will be my honey suckle vine which had about 60% leaves.
Good luck! Worrying from lack of experience...
Andrew
Honey Suckle is VERY vigorous, you shan't worry about that one ;). I remember the first week of April a year or two in the 80s, then freezing. It was so warm that the apples had begun to blossom and some of the earlier varieties froze out. The weather is so unpredictable, that we just have to care the best we can. I brought my greenhouse in last night. All that work, I couldn't bear losing everything in there either.
Can you imagine what the farmer growing your food goes through in this climate? Imagine if your livlihood depended on it? Now that would stress me out. So it could be worse, right?
Well said, Magnolialover!
Speaking of strange.....we have flurries falling right now & my neighbor is MOWING his grass? Now that is nuts!
Had to check on my babies. Here they are basking in the internal temp of 50F(10C) while it is 27F (-2.77C) and gusting to 40MPH (62.76kph). Been working quite well since mid March.
Mowing in the snow? If it is frozen it may kill it.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2007 2:51 PM
Some of my Fritillaria michailovskyi are up about 4 inches (no buds showing yet). They survived a night in the upper teens so far just fine. So did my Pulsatilla turczaninonii with flower stems at 5 inchs and petal showing almost full color in the loose buds. Corydalis solida untouch too, as are my assorted primulas and Helleborus.
I have a "crazy" neighbor like that too. One of those guys with the perfect lawn. But I am winning him over. He is always asking me about the cool stuff I have planted and offers veggies from his garden too. But I know he also eyes my peppers, which I of course share too.