I'm going to run out & get some row covers, but what else can I do? bubble wrap, maybe? My eternal optimism about spring has failed me :), I knew I should have waited until Mother's Day on some of these things, but I'm weak...

Anyone know about strawberry plants? I have some small potted ones that have blooms and small berries started. Should they come in?

sallymay, you should be OK. You might get a little cold damage on the leaves but the plants should be OK (Meadows gets their plants from NC usually, so they are several weeks ahead of ours here).

We used overhead irrigation for frost protection from ~5 to 8 am on cold mornings.

I'm pulling in a ton of plants I've purchased for myself and friends. They'll do fine on my unheated, plywood floors for a few days! [LOL]

Christine

Don't worry, it'll be spring again next week!

Suja

Lynne

I have lots of room in my living room if anyone is really stuck.

C.

Christine and Thistle, not to worry, your J maples will be fine. They're extremely hardy and in fact are able to survive weather conditions far more harsh than our late spring frost. They'll laugh it off.

This weather is not so unusual, really. Hardy plants CAN handle it fine, including Virginia bluebells. Just think about it...nurseries don't bring their plants in during cold snaps.

OTOH, if you have a peach tree in bloom, (as I do) you can worry. So...I may not get peaches this year but the trees will be just fine.

Good luck to you~

Dear PDN'ers:

Greetings from Plant Delights, where after two weeks of late spring
weather, we have once again plunged back into the grip of winter. For
nurserymen, it is the month of April that results in the most premature
grey hair accompanied by high blood pressure due to the worry about late
spring frosts. After two weeks of temperatures in the 80's, a cold front
has once again gripped our area, with predictions of five consecutive
nights of freezing temperatures and lows of 24-26 degrees F, which will
shatter our old low temperature records for most of those dates. Where’s
global warming when you really need it?

Since we haven’t uncovered the overwintering greenhouses yet, the
containerized nursery plants are fine, other than causing some heating
bills that we could have done without. Our primary concerns are for
plants in the display garden, where some arisaemas are in full flower
and early hostas are in full leaf. Our crew has spent over 24 man hours
covering tender vegetation with spun-bound polyester frost fabric (I’m
glad nursery folks never got the memo that polyester went out of
fashion). Frost cloth is made for this purpose and can offer several
degrees of protection for tender plants in just such a situation. The
key to how much damage we will see is a combination of how cold the
temperatures drop and how long they stay there. Typically, frost clothes
can offer protection down to about 27 degrees F, but below that, cold
injury could still occur.

There is also the issue of trees and shrubs that have already developed
spring growth. While these are virtually impossible to protect with
frost cloth, they can be very sensitive to frost damage. Japanese maples
are one of many trees that are particularly sensitive and can be killed
outright by late spring freezes when they are at a susceptible stage of
growth. In such cases, there are really only two options for protection.
One is the application of irrigation, which, while the water is freezing
actually releases heat that protects the plants. This technique is most
commonly used on field grown crops such as strawberries. The downside is
that water must be applied at the proper rate and the application must
continue continuously until the temperatures rise above freezing. The
other option is to rent kerosene space heaters and simply heat up the
night air around the plant. This is similar to the smudge pots that are
used in Florida orange orchards when frosts are imminent. These heaters
can usually be rented from stores who specialize in the rental of
construction equipment. If you would like to know more of the technical
details about water application to protect plants, the following NCSU
website is quite useful:
http://www.smallfruits.org/Weather/frost_freeze.htm .

Because of the cold weather forecast this weekend for much of the East Coast, we are being inundated with calls about plant protection.

The flowers on some plants are going to freeze. Our early spring will not be as beautiful as it otherwise would have been. The flowers on crocus, cherries and magnolias will almost certainly be lost. So if you want to enjoy them I suggest cutting your most beautiful spring flowers, especially the tree branches, and bringing them indoors. The open daffodil flowers should be fine; although some might suffer damage right at ground level and fall over. These that do can be cut and brought indoors next week.

I doubt that there will be any permanent damage to most established plants because temperatures have been so cold in February and March, plants are less advanced than usual at this time. There may be some burn off of new growth. But even if the temperature drops to 20 degrees, the plants will quickly regenerate. Two plants are of particular concern: peonies whose foliage has started to emerge and Japanese Red Maples if their foliage has started to unfurl. These plants do not regenerate easily and should be protected. Additionally you need to protect plants with new growth that have been planted this spring. These often were grown in greenhouses or farther south. This new foliage needs to be protected and these plants may be so far advanced that they may perish if left unprotected. Newly planted truly dormant bare root roses should not require protection. However newly planted roses (and other "dormant" bareroot shrubs) with tender white or light green shoots require protection.

The best way to protect plants is to cover them with an old bed blanket or other heavy cloth held up with stakes and secured to the ground with rocks. Do not use plastic. Clear plastic can be particularly harmful. In some cases it may be easier to dig up a few container grown plants and temporarily move them into the garage, shed or basement.

Will the forsythia blooms also die? I better bring in some branches to remember them by.

There's something looking like iris leaves sticking out about 6-8 inches. Some of the tubers have gotten "raised" above ground level, and you can see them. Should these be covered?

Thanks!!
Deepti

Don't worry about the mature japanese maple dgs9r. Especially if you are in Baltimore city you should have a great deal of protection there from the heat of buildings and pavement. The iris corms do need to be slightly exposed, so that's normal.

Well, after all the nail-biting, we did not get any snow! All the flowering trees are still flowering!

There's some stray flurries in the air right now; hope they go away.

Hope no one lost anything to Old Man Frost.
Deepti