Very nice. They are predicting freezing weather for us next weekend. So I'll get to spend my days off doing the same thing, dragging in plants. BLECH! I'm sick of winter.
Tally HO!

I have spent the day moving pots, covering plants, putting out heat lamps on citrus trees, etc. We are anticipating five nights of hard freeze - it will be a *record number* for consecutive nights if it occurs. My zip code is forecast to go down to go to 28, 28, 27, 28 and 31 degrees Farenheit over the next five nights. This is just CRAAAAAAZY for us.

I just feel so LUCKY that I lifted all those bulbs a week or two ago. I had to leave many more in the ground but I draped old sheets across them, held down by bricks. It is crushing the foliage but that doesn't matter - that will come back strong in the spring. I just need to save the bulbs. Keeping my fingers crossed. If not, I have all those great seedlings.

And "they" call it "Global WARMING"??? Now MY temps will be: 4, 6 11, 12 & 13 - oh wow, a warming trend! Daytime temps in the teens to the mid 20's and I'm in Zone 5, not 4! I feel for y'all who are not accustomed to this kind of weather and hope all the precautions you are taking will be enough. Will offer a prayer for all y'all.

Rebecca, It has been milder than usual here, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been a freeze. It just means that there hasn't been a hard freeze.

That is about to change because the forecast is for 28, 28, 26, 29, 35, 23, 33 and 39. The 26 and 23 is a killer! I do hope that changes.

Carol, in my experience, hippeastrum are much hardier than most would believe. Still, like you, I am hauling all of my potted plants inside.

This is the first year that I have let them stay outside for this long, and the 28-30 degree temps didn't seem to bother them.

Rebecca, I don't think I could survive with your low temps! Wink! Wink! Love you, Girl!

Good Luck!

Ann

Good luck to all you folks with your outdoor plants and coooold temps! And great seedlings, Carol. Your normal Fla sunshine seems to do them well.
Alana

Elizabeth, I agree with you about their hardiness. I tell people in Florida all the time, hippeastrum want to live.

Elizabeth - I wonder if the 23 is a typo? I say that because it is couched between temps in the 30s, not the usual slow descent and rise. If it is not, 26 and 23 will be two hard nights on your tender plants - I agree, bring it into the garage or the house.

If ya'll pay me enough, I'll take photos of my kitchen and garage. It's a huge mess, I mean, "conservatory"! :)

23 is not a typo. It is called tears... I truly hope the forecast will change.

It rarely gets that cold here. Nearly everything is now in an enclosed area, in the patio or garage, and tomorrow, I will go scrounging around to make sure there is not more.

Ann

I hope it does not get that cold!

By the way, I didn't mean a typo by you - I meant a typo by the forecaster, whoever typed up those forecasts. Our local weather forecast on internet has obvious typos/errors in it frequently. So possibly your source also has a typo. Going from 35 to 23 and back to 33 over three nights seems a little unusual. But maybe that is what it will be! You will have to let us know.

How do you think I feel?! We're at a whopping ZERO degrees today, and that's without the windchill!

My winter has only just begun... I won't be able to drag plants outside until May! You hate winter? A few weeks of low temperatures isn't winter! When it's so cold outside your finger sticks to the doorknob, that's winter! :-)

Nice seedlings! I've got a hanging basket filled with last summer's seedlings that are getting really big! I think by spring I might have to separate them.

Jodi, you're right - you have it 1,000 times worse. I couldn't do it and I don't know how you do. I have never experienced the doorknob fingersticking thing - yikes. I hope you have plenty of wool - we Floridians find out that it really does make a warmer sweater than cotton about once ever five years. ;)

May I suggest putting (at least triple) sheets of newspaper over the sheets to better keep in some ground warmth that you still have?

patann, how do you keep the newspaper from blowing all over the yard?

When I was a kid, winter didn't bother me... we spent a lot of time outside sledding, ice skating, building snow forts and having snowball fights... but as an adult, I really dislike the cold!

The cold aggravates my already aching bones and joints, and the dry air plays havoc with dry skin, sinuses, etc...

I survive by indoor gardening... it's the only thing that keeps my spirits up! Growing Hippeastrums really helps... it's so nice to have that winter color from the blooms, and breeding them helps take my mind off the weather outside.

I can't remember what I did before the advent of the internet... a lot of reading, tv watching, and planning for the next spring's garden additions!

I have a huge fuzzy robe and slippers, a down comforter, and a warm dog! :-)

If the wind were blowing I would put the newspapers down first and cover with the sheets, but that assumes the wind isn't blowing when you put the papers down. I apologize for not thinking the wind was blowing.
Pat

Oh Pat, no need to apologize! That is a good idea, and I didn't think about putting it *under* the sheet either! Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to do it tomorrow for the next three freezing nights.

-Carol

Carol,

I surely wish that it was a typo, but it appears that it is not.

Local area weather station forecasted lows:

24, 20, 21, 29, 23, 22, 30

weather.com:

27, 19, 26, 33, 26, 35, 41, 45

accuweather.com:

22, 19, 21, 30, 30, 21, 23, 28, 29

Bummer!

Ann

Ann, you've convinced me and that sure is a bummer! Any forecast of than 29, which, in my mind, is the margin of error or micro-climate variance that one can get away with, means trouble. I am SO sorry - your forecast looks worse than ours. I feel so badly for you! I hope most of your yard and plants stay in tact. I know how hard you have worked on it.

-Carol

I feel for all y'all southerners having to deal with these "unnaturally cold temps"; I know neither you nor any of the plants/trees/shrubs in your gardens are accustomed to it, but you know, the strong will survive and you'll be surprised how strong (hardy) some of your plants turn out to be!

Unless you are able to cover plants with plastic, multiple layers of newspaper and then clothe (ie; sheets) will work, just do it before the sun gets too low in the sky for it to have optimal effectiveness.

Christmas lights were mentioned elsewhere, but I would only use them if you are able to cover with clear plastic and even then, I would place the strings of lights closer to ground and float the plastic above the plants where possible. If wind is a concern, then hold everything in place with bricks, rocks, sand whatever you have with any significant weight to it.

We (Zone 5ers) have been dealing with below average temps for several days and there is no let up in sight, not for at least another week to 10 days and then the temps wioll only moderate to a more normal low temp range. We have winter for a good 4 months and long if you count the days when it is still too cold for most things to really grow! Our "growing season starts in late February with the waking of the spring flowering bulbs (tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc, but the plants that really like warmth and no frost don't come into their own until Late April to mid May and is finished by September! Not long, not long at all!

The strong survive and the wily contrive a way to assist their plants in the game of survival.

Here in the north we often find ourselves using sheets and blankets to cover our "pretties" at the beginning or end of the season. I personally find it pointless at the end of the season if it's such a long stretch, Ann, but it is obviously worth it for you guys since you rarely have these long freezes. I would work my little behind off to keep my babies happy if I were you, this is short term and your efforts will be worthwhile. Goodluck- You can do it!!!

This year, I didn't cover any of my amaryllis bulbs or seedlings. We had lows well-below freezing on probably 20+ nights. I did not lose a single bulb or seedling.

I have to say that in the ground they are tough plants. I have many in the ground and they don't get any cover. I also have them in sone cases burried past their necks to see if that made any difference. They do fine either way.