I worked pretty hard yesterday to get everything staged to pull into the garage tonight after work. I like to use Bayer before bringing them inside the house to avoid fungus gnats, but I found my bottle empty last night just before dark and Wal Mart didn't have any! I hope to find some at THD on my way home tonight.

It should only be this cool for a night or two and we are forecasted for right at 32. I'm just covering the tomatoes and bringing the tropicals inside. The brugs are almost done blooming.

I'm debating on whether to pick tomatoes to bring in and put on the window sill. Guess I need a recipe for fried green tomatoes, have never tried that!

I'm going to toss a sheet over my kumquats and tomatoes. I plan to dig up my biggest Brug. But that won't happen today, so I'm rolling the temperature dice. Hopefully with will only be frosty for a short time.

the 20's sound very scary to me!

Brugs will not suffer from a short freeze.............they are much more hardy than most people think. I am just in from doing "all one old mule" could, and will just say a prayer for those things that I could not cover. I did get a lot of things in the plant room and the greenhouse, but the very large tropicals are not "moveable" by me. I have coverd a lot of other plants that are "iffy" if the temps stay too long below the freezing mark, and that will be that. Guess I will know if it is enough tomorrow after the sun comes out.

Sure is chilly out there tonight! I strung Christmas lights on my tomatoes and peppers that are still producing and covered them...but when I plugged the lights in I shorted the whole mess out! :( So they're just covered with old paint tarps, hopefully it's not as bad as 26! I left the strawberry beds uncovered, I had hoped to mulch them with straw before the 1st good freeze but it snuck up on me. I've read that they tolerate light frost but should be mulched for winter--is that right? Sure hope I don't lose them, they were a LOT of work and not super cheap.

I have never had to cover my strawberry plants, but cannot tell you their name. Some may require mulching, but the kind I have do not. I hope yours are okay.
Things don't look too bad this morning, but then the sun hasn't hit them as yet.......guess I will know how much damage later on today.

I know I had a freeze, as the water in my many bird baths was iced over. One thermometer on the deck said 33, but the other one that's NOT close to a door said 29.

Things aren't looking too bad close to the ground; it's the taller tropicals (banana, castor bean, confederate rose, brugs) that look like they were hit with a cold stick. I'm sure the brugs will bounce back; will have to see about the others.

Lin

Things aren't looking good at my house now that the sun has hit many of them.............this is one of the saddest times of the year for me as we will probably not have another freeze for a few weeks, and I have to look at this devastation. I won't know the total extent of the damage until it warms up a bit, and I go outside to check things out.

Just checked everything outside. Everything that I left out still looks good.
I don't think we got below 35 last night.

The temp gauge on the back porch said 35, my truck said 29 degrees this morning. We did have a light frost on the wind shield too. I had brought all the plumeria in last weekend and brugmansia last night.
Lonnie

We (my father) covered all of the potted plants yesterday and we're putting up the greenhouse today. I haven't uncovered any pots, but the peppers & basil in the garden aren't showing any damage, so I think I lucked out. But, I'm significantly closer to the lake than Carrie is! And, the tropical plants were covered and underneath the oak tree.

Yeah, Sarita, there is nothing between the North Pole and me except the proverbial barbed wire fence, and I truly think someone must have cut it. All my brugs will lose all their leaves and blooms..........not all that bad as I will be cutting them this week-end anyway, and the Tropical Giant Crinums look as if someone poured hot water on them. The thing that truly surprised me was the iresine. It is supposed to be very touchy and none of it shows signs of damage, so I can still take my cuttings. Plants always offer an element of surprise, don't they??

Sorry Carrie
It really is sad. We were lucky, There was ice in the water I keep on a platform on the wood fence for birds and squirrels...that was the only sign of frost. Wish you were so lucky

c