Wow Rick,

I am in So. Cal. too and mine hopefully are not that cold looking. I put sheets over the best I could and then woke up each morning to the wind from the East having blown them off.
wanted to try the socks over the tips but I had so many great looking leaves still. Hoping this was the worst of it but we always seem to get a cold snap in March for 1 last time....roxanne

Have you considered using old fitted sheets (the ones with the elastic corners)? I have found using those and using clothes pins or large alligator style clips can keep a temporary cover in place under most circumstances.

great idea...all mine are flat sheets...just afraid of the 35mph we clock on our wind thingy that it will whip off a branch...the sock thingy sounds so good but so many of mine are multi tipped short....if you know what i mean...hard to fit the sock on...I hope the worst is over. Mine do look worse today than yesterday BUT the tips inside look good...roxanne

kms-That is a good idea. The next time our weather approaches those types of temperatures, I will be prepared. I guess I should have gotten my lazy self off the couch and at least tried to cover the plants with something. The fitted sheets with clothes pins or clips is quite clever. Thanks for that suggestion, I will remember that.
rox- I hope your plants faired well. I know this week, the temps will be in the high 60's to the mid 70's, the type of weather SoCal is noted for in the winter.
I wish you all well.
-Rick

This is how I cover my plants - I use tall garden stakes (4'-6' depending on the size of the plumeria), and tent the frost cloth over them, securing it to the stakes and the ground with clothespins and metal garden staples. This set up has survived every wind "event" that we've had in the past couple of years.

covered all mine when a freeze was predicted one year. Then it rained and froze. Worst damage ever to the plants. That was horrible, the plants had tons of broken branches from the weight of the freeze cloths soaked in water and then frozen.
Stay warm ya'll.
Tally HO!

I HAVE HEARD OF THE FROZEN SHEET/RAIN/WEIGHT PROBLEM AND HAVE NOT PUT ANYTHING UP THEN WHEN RAIN IS FORECAST. THOSE ARE GREAT PIX OF THE GREEN CLOTHES PIN SHEET IDEA THOUGH. WE LIVE ON THE WATER AND A FEW TIMES THE WIND HAS WHIPPED UP THE COVER AND BLOWN THEM INTO THE MARINA...ALAS, ANOTHER PROBLEM. I GUESS IT GETS DOWN TO SURVIVAL IF THE FITTEST AND THE CONDITIONS....HOPE IT ALL GETS BETTER FROM THIS FORWARD....ROXANNE

Tally I did the same thing, I used sheets to wrap my plants, then used bungie cords to hold them down. It was 27 degrees for 2 days, they survived the first day. The second day the rain soaked sheets froze, and so did the plants underneath them.

I hope your plants will survive. Depends on how long it was below freezing. If it was just an hour or so, your plants should be ok, they had protection on one side. Be sure to remove the leaves from your plants. Barbra

I stuffed all mine under the covered patio and covered them w/ two frost blankets using clothes pins to secure them. I would leave the the blankets on a week at a time if the weather was going to be under 45 b/c it was so much work! So far they look ok. The leaves are turning yellow and dropping off so I hope that's a normal process.

This is why I'm not sure if I should plant them in the ground yet this year. It would be so much harder to protect them when they are all spread out. :(

I hope everyone's plants are going to pull through.