podster, that would be the one. I have mine in a pot and it blooms year round. It just does'nt like the cold, below 50.
Lisac, I feel you pain. :) I too wish the temps would make up their mind. Thisafternoon I will be putting some plants back in the GH and front porch and workshop. yeesh. Where is Liberty Hill?
Freeze coming what to do
A friend gave me four little seedlings. Gave away two of them but this was the conversation stopper every time we "toured" the garden. I have left my plant out expecting to treat it like one would any other eggplant.
I managed to save seed from one egg because of giving everything away. Intend to grow them in the veggie garden this year.
Christi
Which came first...the plant or the egg? hhhhmmmmm
lol
Here's a picture of my poor bare naked ladies. lol
That was Dr. Suess this is a peach that never really got started before the frost but bless its heart kept on trying.
Anne, they may be bare of leaves but their flowers are quite pretty. They don't have any kind of wind break it looks like. You should get those high straight line winds we get when the thunderstorms come rolling through. It looks like they tolerate them fine. That gives me hope for planting a few out in the yard.
Texasgrower, Liberty Hill is North of Austin and west of Georgetown out in the country. The 6:00 news just said possible light freeze in the Hill Country. We aren't acyually in the Hill Country but our weather is the same.
How unusual. Boy, were they loaded with blooms. You are doing something right!
And good for you, you got home before dark tonight... 8 )
oh you live in one of the prettiest parts of Texas. I love it out there. We are supposed to get down to anywhere from 38 to 41. So I have my plants either in the GH, covered or in the workshop. They are all still blooming and feeding my butterflies. I don't want them to get frost bit.
I have a couple of oak trees in the yard so at this time of year I rake the yard, only time of the year, and pile them around the brugs. Last year I bought a small bale of hay and piled that around them as well. They wintered over fine. I got a new garage this year and we've already put in shelves for the small things. There should be enough room for the larger things as well. Next year I'm hoping to have the other brugs in the ground so there won't be so much to move. yeah right.....lol I've already bought another iochroma and a shredded white lol.
Anne
I save my gallon water jugs and when there is a freeze warning I fill them with water and put them around the plants that I want to protect and cover the plant with frost cloth. I have kept tender perennials that go home to their fathers at the first hint of frost blooming all winter long using this method. (The plants weren't spectacular, but they had blooms on them.) As long as the water is not frozen it will emit heat.
This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 9:38 PM
This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 9:45 PM
Now flower, that is a first for me. What is a freeze cloth? I know that some people put water in their GHs for extra warmth but my humidity levels would be too high for that in my GH. I don't have my vents installed yet and the condensation builds up quickly whether it's hot or cold.
I really meant frost cloth. I use the water jugs in my flower beds and in large pots that I don't want to move. One year only part my cigar plant was protected with a water jug. (It was next to another plant that I wanted to keep blooming.) The part that was near the water jug was green and the rest of the plant was brown.
I will try it. Will a sheet work for frost cloth? Forgive my ignorance. I don't know what frost cloth is. I could do that with my large pots I don't want to move. Then use Anne's idea of leaves as mulch and hay for the ground plants. Then cover my brugs with bubble wrap bags. Okay, I 'm all set for next winter. :)
Ok this may sound pretty stupid, but is it the temperature that will harm/kill tender plants, or is it frost that does them in?
It's not a stupid question. I have found that frost just kills the exposed leaves and flowers. Freezes (temps) will kill the roots. It's more important to protect the roots. Plants will re-emerge in the spring if the roots are sound.
Cool, good to know in case we ever reach 32 degrees down here!
The last cold snap that came I think temps were forecast to drop to the high 30's overnight... so for me (on the southeast side) it probably only got down to the low 40's. I had to run the AC today because it was over 80 in my house!! I hate how the temps change so much.
I have not brought anything inside yet. My brug looks just fine and is blooming profusely. My kumquat, lemonquat, keylime, and blood orange are also just fine. The buddha's hand citron has a few burnt leaf edges. The adenium are doing ok, starting to lose a few leaves. The plumeria are starting to show a little leaf yellowing and drop also. The bouganvilla still looks good. Coleus are also doing ok.
Praying for a mild winter here in Houston!
My b-i-l lives in Tomball. I hope you have a mild winter too. We already have had some freezing temps although shortlived. It's 41 now expected to drop to 38. I still have quite a few plants blooming too. They all look good, thanks to my greenhouse. Plumeria is one I'd love to try. I had to cut my blooming boganvillia back to cover it. It is in a pot. But it is putting new growth out already. Poor things, the yoyo weather must confuse them.
33 this morning....brrr! But the frostweed still hasn't burst open yet!
Shoot !! it will have to go a little lower that that, but it is so nice when it happens !!!
I sure hope that it didn't get that cold in Wellborn Kim. KBTX said it was only supposed to get to 40 so I didn't cover or put on the lights. But there was a lot of frost.
Anne
Last night they revised the forecast at the last minute kinda saying it would get into the lower 30s. We had quite a bit of frost in Bryan. I hope your plants are ok.
I covered my miniature rose that's in a pot just for the heck of it. I'm glad that I did. Everything else is on the porch so frost didn't hurt and it wasn't that cold long enough to do damage.
It got much colder here too last night. In fact we got to 32. The bird baths froze. I did have big pots covered and plants in the GH but I didn't have the heater on. I did have the twinkle lights though. I think that is what saved them. If I hadn't protected everybody they would have been frost bit. It wasn't supposed to get that cold. The weather people just can't get it right. Even with their modern technology. I can usually tell if it's going to freeze by the bird activity at the feeders. But there is still enough natural food for them they aren't coming to the feeders too much. I covered again tonight and I may put the heater on in the GH. The Tyler weather folk say the temps will pretty much be the same as last night. Weather bug on the other hand says 45. How is anyone to prepare with spectrums like that?
It got down to the high 20s last night. I'm really glad that I hauled everything into the house. What is freeze/frost cloth? If that question was ever answered I missed it?
20's? Brrrr. We got down to 31. No, we still don't know what freeze/frost cloth is.
It's a floating cover that will protect plants to some degree from cold and frosts. The ground holds some heat and these covers also help retain that heat around the plant. Sold under many names some of the garden supply & home builders stores also handle them. One brand name mentioned is The Planket.
http://www.catalogclearance.com/depts/groundcover/plantprotection.html
Are they a lot better then sheets and towels and blankets? Does anyone know how to start a new thread that begins with a hyperlink back to this one? This one is gettting REALLY long. It seems like we have nothing else to talk about in TX except the weather!
Ok, thanks for the link. I understand now.
floating row cover lasts practically forever for me--its a good investment. I haven't had to buy any in at least 8-10 years.
I can't remember exactly where I originally got mine (since its been so long) but might have been here:
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2005&bhcd2=1227666370
=)
This message was edited Nov 25, 2008 8:33 PM
You must be on dial up like me. I don't know how to hyperlink. I'm lucky to get this far. The weather is always changing in Texas. And it's being such a big state, there are diverse conditions. Don't ya just love Texas?
I couldn't afford the frost cloths, so I will be sticking to sheets and boxes. I do like the idea of water jugs put around the plants too. I am going to start saving my milk jugs.
Here is a link that describes frost cloth. http://www.gardenpartyradio.com/wp/?p=57. I bought my at a nursery about ten years ago. They aren't exactly cheap so I bought one or two a year until I had the amount that I wanted. You may be able to get them at one of the big box stores.
You mean like Big Lots? At that price, that is how I would have to buy mine too.
They look good but the wind here would have them clear across the pasture. I like the water jug idea with my blankets, sheeets and towels.
you really don't need hoops and all that though--I just throw it on top and put some rocks around the edges to hold it down--and then take it off as soon as I can. It really does last a long time if you pull it up and immediately fold it up (let dry first if needed) and store in house or garage.
Debbie
edited to add--floating row cover dries MUCH, MUCH faster than sheets, blankets, etc. so that helps a bit in making it easier to deal with. cold, wet sheets = not much fun
This message was edited Nov 25, 2008 10:13 PM
Big box store is slang for Lowe's or Home Depot.
oh ha ha. Never heard that before. Learn something new everyday :D
I just noticed that the temp went up two degrees in an hour here, from 46 to 48. I hope that means it is not going to get as cold as predicted. That must mean the southerly winds kicked in sooner than expected. Yea!
Okie doke ~ as some of us wished... our new thread! Please follow us over there...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/927628/