Hey, we had a light frost here in NE ohio in mid Oct. It was about 33F on Oct. 18... Nothing much was damaged at my place in the "city," but outlying areas had a harder frost... It was about 38F last night, but looks like we are in for it tonight... 27F brr.... Good bye plants... see you in April.

Mid 20s forecast for tonight. I rushed outside when I got home at 9PM to bring in lots of marginal plants I have had in pots. One can get lulled into complacency, with the glorious weather this weekend. Thank goodness for those powerful flashlights, and spouses who will hold them while you scramble bringing things in.

Okay, yea we got it here last night. First hard freeze here. Must have been about 27 or 28F this morning... The grass was really white... It would have been pretty, I guess, had the frost not signaled the end of the growing season... The Elephant Ears and Musa Basjoo were limp and brown... a sad sight, but the hundred or so pansies I planted were still pretty bright and perked up by the time I left the house- got back up to 35F by 9 a.m. I think were in for it again tonight, and then tomorrow it is supposed to be close to 60F. -Go figure huh???

I'm still okay here north of Chicago. It was nippy last night, maybe mid to high 30s, but not quite cold enough to take out the dahlia or the castor bean. No white grass, yet a mere four blocks farther from the lake (and higher up in the air), my husband claims the el platform was icy yesterday morning. My casualties still stand at a couple of collapsed hosta in a cold, low corner (their cousins 20 feet away still look fine). Even the basil still looks marginally okay. Sometime late this week they're forcasting lows in the low 20s, so I'll surely get it by then.

Doniki--do you do anything radical to overwinter that musa basjoo (and didn't I see a post on pushing palms in the Midwest forum?)?

stinkypink- I usually build a wire cage around the base and fill it with dry straw or oak leaves and then cover it with a large plastic pot or something to keep it dry in the winter... It's still hit or miss though...

Uh-oh!! I thought this morning here in NC at my brothers it felt like a winter chill. I guess back home (upper part of lower Michigan)I probably have snow now..... If the "palm part" (downstate) of the state has frosting temps then my "above knuckle part" (upstate) is bound to have freezing temps.

Hoping my pipes hold unfrozen until I get home. Keeping fingers crossed too for the plants given me I tucked in before coming here to my brothers (my dad facing anurism surgery but with 40% lung capacity they have to keep him awake). Tests are being run now and praying things don't rupture before the surgery gets scheduled. He just got his walking cast off from the broken foot! He was malnurished etc. I brought down a few squash though and I will be making breakfast for him in the morning.

Can't stand his place long at once though as I am asthmatic and he a chain smoker who won't quit.

We got down to around 30F last night, our first hard freeze. The other night they also forecasted 30F for a low and it got down to 41F so go figure. Today I cut down my bannas and cannas and dug up all the flowers. Oh well it's time to move on.

The dahlias and I are still dodging at the lakefront. It was 40F at about 7 am; I don't think it went much lower. Went out for a walk this morning and noticed still blooming (though not necessarily blooming well): mums, roses, cosmos, geranium, ageratum.

Everything is done but the Dusty Miller here (Detroit suburb). Finished cleaning beds today...yanked out the last of the dahlias, marigolds, cannas, alyssum and other tough guys that had been hanging in there until we had our 28 degree night a few nights back...

Sigh.

But on the bright side...nice clean beds always get me thinkin' of spring...it WILL be here before we blink, believe it or not...I feel myself blowing "Plant Budget 2005" already...lol...

Was up at my folks' this past Wed/Thurs. They'd had a couple frosts. The dahlia greenery was mostly dead as was that of the few baby hostas, tricyrtis, marigolds, callas etc. To my surprise the glads' greenery was fine and dandy, as was the belamcamdas' [?sp], and several of the polka dot plants. As always the dusty millers and snaps were still looking good.