Just wait till AFTER you come back from winter get away!

Hope for the best...it always turns out better then what it could have been for you.

Got a few angels not just with you, but watching out for you.

So you have a great time in Florida...how long will you stay there? and when you get back...you can LOOK and hopefully your weather there got better too.

Hugs
Lucy

40 should be OK for most plants unless you have some super sensitive ones. My brugs and tropicals did fine in the GH until it hit below freezing for 6 days straight. Most are history. Will be 16 in the morning and that should do everything in! Will see if anything comes back from the roots in the spring. That will be the cold-hardiness test!!

Linda

I'm in the same situation --- afraid to look.

Everything is in the hoop house and I've had a heater going. Didn't have the propane heater yet so I set up an electric heater. (Yes, I took safety precautions.) However, the power went out for a couple of hours Thursday night.

I may have lost everything. I went out this morning to check. The heater was still running. But, I lost my nerve and walked back in the house.

Well, I'm hoping for the best for all of you.
It's kind of odd to think I might lose less than some of you 'milder climate' bruggers....and will, of course, be more than willing to share anything I have once everything wakes up next spring.
Hang in there folks! Its supposed to be up in the 20s here later this week. Maybe more than one of the 3 vehicles will be willing to start LOL
Will

If I lose them, I won't be starting over.

My family is unhappy with my plants. They seem to think I give the plants too much time and attention. I didn't garden at all until both children were technically adults. Maybe that was wrong.

Amelia, I suggest that you keep this hobby going, especially since your kids have entered adulthood. One day, they will be up and out and living their lives away from you. They will do exactly as they wish, and you should be able to do the same thing.

Ingrid

Amelia, Don't let them run your life. You have to do some things just for you to keep you sane. My kids would gladly watch all the plants go (except for the edible ones) so I could devote all my time to them (laundry, cooking, cleaning, dishes, etc). DH & I have 8 kids between us & the "baby" is 19. They come & go & move in & out & try to tell me what I'm doing wrong with my life. I don't know how I ever managed before I had kids to tell me what to do next. LOL

There are some lines that can't be crossed. My animals & plants are it.

Linda

Amelia--I agree! That is your hobby and what gives you pleasure. It is also a great stress reliever. Tell them you will not give it up and they can learn to live with it.

I may be gardening on a much smaller scale next year due to plant loss, but I will not give it up!!

I hope we have an early spring this year - this winter has been the worst I have ever seen and very discouraging.

Linda

OH I know how you feel...Last month when we had to two 8* mornings, I lost some bananas since the temp in there got down to 26*...The heat was supposed to keep it from getting below 42*, but it was just too cold outside.

Good Luck to you Karen!!!

I am in the same boat as you guys, it is killing me. I turned my sun porch in to a minni gh for the winter. I keep a heater out there and made sure its safe no worries, also did all the windows in plastic and sealed off the door lolol and keep the kitchen window 1/2 open to allow heat from the house out there and some days I still have to bring them all in when it gets in the single digits. IT SUCKS lolol If I had enough windows I would keep them in cuz man, my electric bill went thru the roof. And I keep thing man there goes the money I could have saved to buy more in the spring HAHAHAHAH I think next year Im gonna start early and seal that porch so tight I could sit out there in shorts. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Cold
Cassie

Karyn I hope everything is alright..You are getting to be a Pro at the Winter Woe's..
Cassie check out the GH forum.. It has some gret info and you can ask what the best way to go would be.. I just wish I had somewhere to close in..LOL Still waiting on the GH..AGAIN!!

Kylie

Napdognewfie, sooo funny that you mentioned that about the kids.This seems to have been around for ages, and all over the world. About 65 years ago in Germany, my mother once told me that the only reason she had given birth to me was so that I could teach her how to live. I'll never forget that. Of course I repeated that to my own kids one day...

Ingrid

Ingrid, What a nice sentiment your mother told you. I told my kids I had so many so they could take care of me in my old age. I want to live really well (not working out so far). LOL

Cassie, I put up house wrap plastic, a layer of foam insulation panels in between & another layer of house wrap on the inside. I have a sliding glass door up & we staple it all together snugly. I had to run both an electric & kerosene heater when it got really windy or down in the single digits. I have kept them that way for at least 3 winters & there is enough light for the ones next to the door to be semi dormant.

The downside. Last year the electric went off a couple times & I lost most of my Brugs.

Linda

I didn't bother looking. I'm not worried about brugs, even if the temps were way down they'll be fine. It's other plants that are a concern but I'll deal with that when I get back in town. It was so nice to be outside in the sun without a coat today!!!!

This is such a tough winter all around the country.

knotz - Your bananas may not be dead. The roots are pretty hardy, so they may come back if it only got to 26 in there. Of course, you won't get bananas for a few years.

I finally went and walked around the yard today. It made no difference if I covered or didn't cover the plants, they all look equally awful! At least 36 hours below freezing, it was 24 with windchill of 14 on Saturday morning, didn't get above freezing until after 1pm on Friday. I did bring in the cuttings I just put in, everything that was in a pot and then took a bunch of cuttings of brugs, which are all in a bucket and a cooler in the kitchen. So far have only taken out the cactus. There is still ice on the back deck. There are a lot of dead plants out there, hopefully most of the brugs are not in the dead category, but boy do they look awful!
Tally HO!

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I don't think the cuttings frozen in the ice will survive LOL!
Tally HO!

I was just outside watering since I had to shut off the outside water for so many days and everything is brown and dead out there in the yard. Makes me wonder if many of the plants will come back this year. Its never been so cold for so long since I started gardening here. On the bright side the things in the garage and greenhouse look good for the most part but I am having to run an electric heater and a propane heater on the nights it gets below 28. Some of the tropicals looks pretty bad but hopefully they will recover. The greenhouse got down to about 35 a couple of times with only the electric heater. Buying propane is making me go broke and I hate to see the electric bill but it will be worth it in the spring if I lose as many inground plants as its looking like I will. Hang in there everyone. Spring will be here before you know it I hope, lol.