A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Oh No! One last frost?

We've had temps in the 70's and 80's all thru March. Almost every perennial I have is up and growing strong, including my tender ones like elephant ears, cannas, tender salvias, etc. One of my Tree Peonies is blooming and many of my lilies are 6" or more high. And now they say we will probably have a frost/freze next weekend! I shouldn't be surprised because it happens every year...we always get a frost in April, but my plants usually aren't growing so strong at this time of the year. I spent $50 on frost cloth today so I can cover up as much as I can. $50!!! Even though I know the cold probably won't kill any of them, it may certainly burn/kill the top growth and they'll have to start all over again. Can you hear me screaming??

Oh geeeze, that's awful Alan. We're lucky down here. Doesn't look like we'll get anymore cold weather. Getting some MUCH needed rain right now though. I'd be crying if they called for a freeze here now with all the stuff I have up and blooming, not to mention I have everything in my veggie garden except okra and green beans and it's all up or coming up!

I hear Ya Alan Loud and Clear!!!! :eeek: I know that feeling of panic setting in. :shck: Welll look at it this way at least you'll have a freeze cloth for next year,, According to the Farmers AL' We were supposed to have had our last freeze on March 23 but it passed us up!! TG> But ya never know about this weather we could have tornados one day hard freeze the next

50$ a lot of money for a freeze cloth wouldn't bed sheets work just as well

Yes .......I feel your pain and I may be the next in line.

Freeze cloth is designed to hold in heat from the day and heat from moisture condensation. It can give up to 5 degrees of protection, which isn't all that much, but we aren't expecting a hard freeze, so I hope it will be enough. We have 3 local TV stations...all 3 give a slightly different forecast (only one says it will go to or below 32 degrees), then the national weather service has another forecast, and then the NOAA forecast is different from that, being the worst of all of them. Jeez!

yep we are in for about 4 days where @ nite it is supposed to get down in the 20's ~ fun fun..... i only have my Daffodil's up but still ~

Joni......

Hope my first tulip holds off till after those 20 nites.......
I can remember having 80º for easter......Not always just one time......

I see you love Mother Teresa too......Son bought me her book.

Enjoy..
b

I have a similar question. We’re in Lexington, KY, about two hours or so north of Knoxville, so I feel your pain. Though the roads have been clear, our cars, grass and deck were all snow white yesterday. And it was 80 degrees here on Tuesday! (We actually passed through Knoxville this week on our way to and from Asheville, NC: http://public.fotki.com/dkitchen/photos-from-the-gar/?cmd=fs_slideshow Biltmore Estate is so beautiful.)

Anywho, I don’t have much…just getting started in gardening. But last year we bought one of those pre-designed gardens from spring Hill Nursery for a flower bed in our front yard. (This one includes Belladonna Delphiniums, Lemon Fluffs, Alaska Shasta Daisies, Bright Eyes Tall Phlox, Pink Coneflowers, Cloths of Golds, Peach Blossom Astilbe, Achilleas 'The Pearl', and Clustered Bellflowers.) I also planted a lilac bush in our backyard last year (about 3’ tall).

Right now, there are now flowering parts on any of the flowers, and I really haven’t seen any buds or anything like that. There has been, however, plenty of green growth, as most things have sprung up already. The lilac is pretty green, especially given the shape it was in last summer when I planted it.

Our temperature highs are in the 30’s and our lows in the 20’s right now. For the last couple of days, I’ve been putting bed sheets on the front yard flower bed and the lilac bush in the back yard. But since there are no flowers or buds, is this necessary? And with temps into the 20’s, does it really even help?

I certainly want to do whatever I need to in order to keep things going, but don’t want to damage or just cover up for the sake of covering.

Any thoughts?
David

didnt spend $50, more like $20, but i have put poly out over the sun bed,tacked about 4 feet up and wieghed down
with rocks. makes a nice little tent. wasnt gonna do anything but i have glads about 3 feet tall already and lilies about the same hieght. the glads looked ok but the lilies ara showing signs of stress(weird ,isnt it?)
also,the mums have a little burning on em and a couple cannas have really been burnt.

maybe leaving them in the ground wasnt such a hot idea after all.

When you get a hard freeze (below 28 degrees) any new green growth, blooms and buds can be susceptible to freeze damage. The more time they've had to grow with warm weather the more they can be damaged by freeze. But if you've had cold nights and warm days all along they have probably acclimated to the cold and may not be damaged. Where you get the most damage is when you've consistently had really warm days and nights above freezing for several weeks (like we've had here). All that new growth that was stimulated by the warmth can be damaged or killed back. Covering usually only helps when temps don't get below 28 degrees or so, but I would cover anything I think might get damaged anyway...it may help prevent more severe damage.

Thanks! It had been pretty warm here, probably like there, with highs in the 70's and up to 80. This nation-wide cold hit us, dropping the temps into freezing. To play it safe, I'll keep 'em covered for the next coupld of days. I think we're above freezing for a while after Monday night.