I'm new to gardening outdoors and need your advice. It's supposed to get down to 31° tonite with a wind chill of 22°. I've got hostas, clematis and daylillies that are starting to come up. Do I need to cover them?
Thanks.
Sarah
Freeze tonight - what to do?
Naw...they can withstand a few days of the colder temps. I raise plants to sell at farmer market and about half stay out all year. I have lots of stuff including clematis,hostas and daylilies sprouted and they've come thur several cold snaps w/o so much as a burnt leaf.
Peggy(self appointed honorary Texan 'cause I was born on the Tx. side of Texarkana)
Thanks, Peggy. I don't have my outside thermometer set up yet, but I suspect my yard is a bit warmer than other areas, since it's so sheltered. I think I'll just leave it to nature. Most of the hostas and clematis have some natural mulch for protection so I think they'll be ok. Or at least I hope so.
Even if they get killed back...they'll come back....but I really don't think it will hurt them.
If you decide to do something like cover them, you must wait until it's dark and/or you're in your pajamas, then you run out and hope the neighbors don't see you! LOL
Oh, Steph, that is SO funny! Mainly because it is so true. I can't even count the times I've done that exact thing - freezing my tail off the whole time.
I brought my little seedlings in. That's enough, I guess.
Aswan~What's even worse is when it's windy outside and/or already snowing, sleeting, and/or some other type of weather like that! I have no personal experience about this, you see...LOL
I have lots of WS seedlings in my unheated geenhouse and some small cole crop seedlings in peat pots outside on a bench...uncovered that have come thur just fine thur several cold snaps.Lots of very cold wind and rain yesterday. What doesn't kill them makes them strong. Actually wind helps the cells in the stems become stronger.
I'm having problems with my seedlings in the house under light on a heat mat but no seedling troubles in the unheated greenhouse. That's gotta tell ya something.
LOL Stephanie! Did you see others in your neighborhood doing the same?
Only 32 right now... I thing the wind helped keep the temps up a bit.
Red ~ it's funny how folks are the same as your seedlings... those sitting inside in the heat, under light seem more sickly than those outside and in cooler temps. Nature is amazing!
Sarah ~ I suspect the most tender foliage will be your clematis but it will come back from roots. They are a tough and pretty plant.
Well,since I grow for market and some of the other gardeners around me will buy plants from me,I try to start the tomatoes and peppers inside early but it looks like they may have to go else where this year as well as I may be buying them else where too so I can get a crop in and I tell ya...I'm not happy about it.
What is different this year?
29 degrees here this morning, we shall see how we fare with the blooms.
Josephine.
26 here, but I don't have anything blooming yet.
It seems that everything survived the frost ok. I couldn't find any evidence of leaf damage. Whew!
I decided to bring in 2 plants late last night. Thankfully, they were in the backyard, so no one saw me! LOL It's supposed to freeze agin tonight, but not as bad.
Yep I did the same thing late last night. Ran outside and grabbed my Plumeria from the middle of the front yard & put it on the porch. The wind was blowing WAY to hard to cover flower beds with plastic. I've tried that before, too. LOL
When I first started gardening and we had forecast of bad weather,I'd run out and cover everything. Now 17-18 years laters,1 and 1/2 acres,35+ flowerbeds later I just let Mother Nature take her course and if something dies....Oh Well...opening to try a new plant in. Cruel,aren't I...LOL
Bigred, you're not cruel, just practical. For me, I'm just starting out and I want to protect all my babies. They seem to have survived the last two nights of freezing temperatures just fine.
Sarah
Sarah,
Once you get the hang of gardening,growing for seed and propagtion from other methods..you'll be in the same state of mind.
Year before last I dug up and gave away almost everything in a bed that was about 40-50 ft. longx 6-8 ft. wide just because I didn't have time to weed and maintain it. When I was a newbee gardener,I wouldn't give away a stick...LOL
I have a bunch of native plants and trees I started for a couple of city projects that fell thur that I need to post for trade or toss on the compost pile. I've become a very mean plant mommy
Which native plants do you have? I could use them, please don't throw them away.
Josephine.
Well I know I have a few swamp bay(and another bay species which escapes me at the moment and possum haw holly...small plants and terribly root bound because once the projects fell thur I just left them sitting in the GH until I had a chance to toss them out. Probably some small button bush saplings, one sassafras for sure. Read they were hard to dig up and transplant...had one growing in a flowerbed so I dug it up and potted it to see what it would do.........Dogwoods saplings in flowerbeds that need to be dug out...Hmmm? I'll have to inventory my stock to see just what I have in surplus native plants and trees.