I am south of Joplin and was only supposed to get 1 or 2 inches but it looks more like three. I am judging by looking out the window. I was hoping for good cover because of the cold forecast. A certain dog has been in and out about four times and has been jumping on the side of the bed when I wanted to sleep in.

Light snow still falling here in Springfield with about 5-6" of snow on the ground. We only had 9 people in church this morning and cancelled the evening service. I can barely tell where my raised beds are because of the blowing snow.

This post was edited by dirtguy50 on Sun, Jan 5, 14 at 13:27

We were supposed to get 3" here in Cave City, but just got flurries. But it sure is cold out there tonight!

Welcome Allan! Are you in Arkansas? Hope it's not as cold there as here. Kind of tough on plants to drop so low without any snow cover. It's minus seven in Springfield right now and we ended up with about 7 inches of snow.

My kids' Christmas vacation got extended another day. They've gotten very used to sleeping in.

I didnt get up untill almost 6:30 AM--I fixed the fire about 4-but it was so nice to snuggle back under the covers.. Was funny, I opened one eye, and could see one ear above the covers--on MY pillow.Bobby Cat was snuggly too! The wind coming back from the barn just now was horrible!! All animals safe and fed.

Be careful ceresone. It isn't good to breathe that cold air. I think you should wait a bit in the mornings when it is very cold. Your animals need you to take care of yourself.

My dogs sleep all night, but the outdoor cat who got to come in woke me up several times last night. I waited a bit and she came back in after a few minutes. She doesn't seem to remember it is cold out there.

Good grief....it -6 degrees here.

Thanks for the welcome! I am in Northeast Arkansas. I had just bought 55 boxwoods on sale from Home Depot last week. I have a south-facing cubby hole in the front of the house that I was able to store them in that will protect them from the winds. I am hoping that they are alright. I also planted several trees and shrubs this Fall, so I will just have to wait and see about those. I don't remember it ever being this cold here!

Things in the ground (if zone appropriate), should be fine.

This winter may punish the zone extenders (of which I am one)

We had the same amount of snow as Christie. Poor DH is the one doing the outside chores but he is using the truck instead of the ATV or tractor. This kind of weather is dangerous if you are outside too long. So far, all the cows are doing ok. Sugar is staying inside with us.

I didn't get my pot of rose cuttings buried under straw so I do hope the snow has saved them. I will definitely mulch them this week. I am thinking of gardening and can't believe it! I had about lost my enthusiasm by the end of summer and fall.
I am throwing 2-3 catalogs into the trash almost daily. I order everything online these days.

I've stayed true to zones, so far. LOL If it is "tropical," (can't survive the ozarks) I always bring it indoors. The wind chill number was getting below the temp numbers for my zone. I know that it probably doesn't hurt anything, but still seeing those numbers makes me nervous!

Pretty sure the tops of the crape myrtles bit it in the sub-zero temps, but the roots should be fine. Don't cut them back tho, until you actually see what is going to leaf out or not, when the leaf out in May. They are only top hardy to zone 6, but root hardy to zone 5.

Sigh. Looks as if we are to get another freezing rain snit this afternoon and evening. Hope it doesn't amount to another ice storm.

My old cat who seldom goes outside anymore decided it would be just the thing to go take a walk in the sub-zero cold and made a dash for it. Didn't take her long to decide that wasn't where she wanted to be!

Sandy

Not saying anything about the intelligence of my cat, but she wants to go out and forgets it is cold. Then she want in then out etc. She is out unless we get more teens and below. The dogs sleep all the time and are no trouble.

I am worrying about the dahlia that Sunny gave me. I don't have luck storing them inside though. We have been this cold before. The weather we have had in the last few years has not been normal. Anyone with cattle remembers how cold it was years ago. I am glad I am retired and don't have to worry about getting to work. That poor fellow in Kansas had car trouble and froze. I have four or more pairs of insulated coverall all made for men and too big. I am very sexy in my outfits NOT.

Meh...you zone worriers are funny. First of all it's not how cold it was, it's duration. I followed the temps from various places, unless you live right by the Springfield/Branson national airport which is north of Springfield, I doubt you hit -6 and -9. SGF is the official weather indicator for Springfield temps.

However, there are four official weather stations in and around Springfield that are more indicative of what your actual temps might be. Carriage Park for example only hit a low of -3.4. Well within zone 6b (USDA zero to -5) or even zone 7 Arbor Day (mainly for trees).

But both zone formulas use 30 year average temperatures, which are statistical averages meaning one year the low could have been -10 while the next year the low might have been only 40 but over the 30 year period it averaged a low of zero.

But the biggest thing is duration, on one of the coldest nights until 3am Springfield/Branson was at zero or 1 above, then it dipped down to -2 for a couple hours, then -4 for a couple more then -6 for an hour and then started to rise back up until it reached into the single digits. Those temps were not around long enough to do any damage to hardened off plants. Now if we had been below zero all day for several days like Chicago which USDA shows also as Zone 6 supposedly the same as the Ozarks then your trees and certain plants would be in trouble. Chicago was below zero all day for at least 5 days, regardless if it was -16 or colder, they never reached the single digits, yet they are supposedly zone 6. In Chicago Giant Lake Michigan froze over, yet little tiny Lake Springfield still had water showing in the middle of the lake, and of course Tablerock had no freezing whatsoever, just lots of fog evaporating off the warm water. We have a very mild climate in the Ozarks and you can grow plants and trees from zone 7 and maybe even a couple from 8 without much problem.

The Ozarks

This post was edited by joeinmo on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 17:13

I just read your post about the dahlia, Helen. It's going to be fine. I know you mulched it. It will give you another glorious blooming summer.

Joe, anyone who says Chicago is Zone 6 is dreaming. I lived there and gardened and I never saw such low temps. around Naperville. Of course we were also there during the famous Blizzard of (1967??) (thankfully I have forgotten the year) and lived on a big hill with driveway upgrade. We had to hoof it to the house every night for about a week, because it didn't melt. It was a nightmare. The mover who moved us from St. Louis said to get in 50# of flour, 50# of sugar, etc. and I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. But I loved Chicago. Except for winter.
Sunny

I'm most concerned about my Oscar Mulberry which is SUPPOSED to be hardy to zone 6 but it had top die-back the last three winters since I planted it and the trunk split the first winter. I don't think we had even a moment below zero those winters so this one will be more of a test.
I'm also a bit worried about my Robada apricot which is in a large container on my patio. In hindsight, I wish I had moved it closer to the south side of the house at least. I've had it less than a year so I could get a replacement but I'd rather not have to start over. I want apricots.

Sunnyside,

USDA zone chart shows Chicago in 6 -crazy thats why I said you can't trust the zone charts.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Zone Chart