Facing the same problem here in "balmy" Philly area. Going to the low 30's tonight and all my hostas are leafed out. I will be bringing all the tropicals in again... sheesh! I just put them all out last week!!

Alexa

Spitting snow here now and low temps. forcast for the mid 20's the next 3 days - should be OK as nothing has leafed out yet.

Same here in the Poconos mid 20s tonight and tomorrow. Just planted a beautiful Gunther's Prize that one will be covered and going to water heavily before it gets dark.

Scott

Frost in the forecast in south-western Ontario for the next three nights. I don't think the upended pots will still fit so I'll have to raid the linen cupboard. But I hate to just give up after covering for many nights -- perhaps THESE will be the last -- cross fingers.
Jan

Same here in Upstate NY near Seneca Lake. Binghamton had issued the freeze warning last night and I see they updated for the freeze for tonight through Saturday morning.

It is very cold here today and the wind chill makes it feel like it is 20. We had sleet this morning and then snow flurries.

Can't cover everything so the strongest will survive.

Julia

Gottagarden had a good reference on watering-
"Irrigate before the frost. A moist soil can
hold four times more heat than a dry soil. It will
also conduct heat to the soil surface faster than
a dry soil, aiding in frost prevention. In a study
performed years ago, the air temperature
above a wet soil was 5 degrees F higher than
that above a dry soil and the difference was
maintained until 6 a.m. the next morning.
Thus, plants should be well watered the
evening before a frost."

The water insulates and help trap heat rising from the earth; an mini H2O greenhouse. My guess is that watering at about 3 PM will catch the peak temperature for the day and it would make sense to hit everything with a good dose at that time to get the water as high as possible and start the insulation at the peak temp as well (???) Soil temps probably peak at the same time as the air temp.

My platiginea related hostas will require covering with pots or whatever I can find in addition to watering. My main bed with a dozen or so hostas can be covered, I have a very lightweight tarp that I will use. As far as the other 4 dozen or so scattered all around, I will cover on the basis of what has unfolded, the last to unfold will be covered first as they are probably the most sensitive to frost.

We have a different payback for a mild winter. It didn't get cold enough to kill the bugs.

bkay

This isn't mine, by the way. Mine aren't quite this bad.
{{gwi:955622}}

Now that would be enough to make you throw in your Hosta hat. That is one ugly plant now. I would not even be able to look at it everyday.
Cher

Oh don't you hate to see a hosta like that knowing it will look that way for the rest of the season? So said to see a beautiful plant ruined like that.

Scott

bkay,
I'll take my chances with late frost.

Jon

Wow, I thought mine were bad!
I'm still seeing little silvery trails on the surface of the soil in some pots. I have figured it is sawfly larva doing those slots in the leaves. I have the Bayer with Merit to spray, but I also found some insecticidal soap to spray on them, and I just love to see the flies gasping for breath.

There are water oaks in the neighbor's yard which hang over to my side, really what provides a bit of shade--but the actual larva I'm seeing are on the green oak leaves which fall into the hosta pots. However, I know that I see the sawflies buzzing around some of my pots, and I've dosed the leaves, and the soil surface good with those sprays.

They really chewed up a Fortunei Hyacinthina putting holes in every one of its 5 leaves. I thought it would be tougher than that, because it has fairly good substance.

Since I also learned that HVX can transmit through plant sap, I am not removing the damaged leaves now. Rather, I'll wait until.....someone tells me it is safe to tidy up the plant. Sure is hard to look at them like that though.

Ordered a new pair of Felco #8 pruners (or was it #7) so I
won't be using them with anything bad. My cheap pair of pruners will be reserved for the 3 in-ground quarantined hosta. I'm very careful not to communicate anything from their little area to the rest of the garden. All three of those plants look perfect, don't you know that's the way it goes! Not a nibble on any leaf, and they're all beautiful.
That's my Winter Snow, Blue Angel, and poor little Fragrant Queen, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh BTW, I replenished my supply of plant drugs today, more soap and slug baits and some Osmocote and a can of copperish Rustoleum paint to spray the rims of some flower pots. I'll try anything. This is WAR.