Thanks ontheteam. I guess everything goes back into the cold frame tonight.

Thanks for the warning. I checked the weather on wunderground.com for my specific zipcode and evidently it's going to go down to the "upper 30's" there. I'm not there (RI) now, I'm up in MA. This better be the last frost (warn Mother Nature) because I won't be back there til early May.

Carol

Carol I am not to far from some of RI if you needed a hand there until mid may Maybe I could help.

What are you covering with sheets?

I have clematis budding, but that seems like the only thing I have to worry about right now.

There really isn't anything outside I'm remotely worried about. The potted plants are all good to the low 20's, and the plants in the ground should know by now that they are on their own. They've been in this situation before, and know the drill.

Wow--my first "Oh No" Frost as a gardener! Since i have no idea what I should do, I need help! All my phlox paniculata are 3-4 inches high, peonies up, heliopsis budding out, some echinacea just starting, etc. What does need to be covered? I don't have any tender perennials in the ground. Do any of these plants that started to break dormancy 3 weeks ago need protection now?

What about tree buds like Spirea, PJM rhododendron (which has very obvious purple buds on it now) and Wiegala?

Our temp is supposed to go to 29. If it were low 30's I wouldn't worry much. I don't know if 29 is too low. We are also higher up on a mountain, and I just learned that may keep us a little warmer, but I don't really know my micro-climate yet. Here's hoping!

Thank you for your help with these questions.

I forgot to mention I was wondering if I should take some of my mulch and just mound it up over everything. Should I do that?

I wish I had the confidence of mad_gallica.

Michelle, thanks; but only the first perennials are showing. And hardy annuals such as forget-me-nots. I think the garden will be OK til I return (from SFO area, where BTW I'm spending 2 weeks driving around to open gardens and public rose gardens to figure out what fragrant roses will be hardy here, then ordering plants!) but it's annoying how every year I push aside my frost history and do something stupid.
I wish the frost would at least do me a favor and kill some of the thriving weeds springing up. Wild onions, anyone?

Carol

OK,
Denna I am going to cover the roses that leaved out the hydrangea and peony.
My BIG worry is the pair of 40 foot long low hoops i have plants and seeds started in for the Charity plant sale. I am going to roll another layer of GH plastic out on to them for the night.

About ten years ago, we had a significant 'frost event'. It was in the high teens in early May. The local fruit crops were destroyed. Some marginally hardy things like Japanese maples had issues, but it was tough to find visible damage on any perennials. There were some thing that had minorly funky foliage later on, but nothing worrying.

That was about ten degrees colder than this forecast, and about a month later. If the plants could handle that, they can handle this no sweat.

OK, that sounds good. I'm relaxed now. Thank you, mad_gallica!

Me too. I DID put landscape fabric over the plant sale sprouts. but I did leave "my" plants alone.