John,

Hopefully your hardy begonias can stand up to this cold front bearing down on most of the states. It has been almost 30 years in our area since we've been tested to the single digits. We had two years back to back - Dec 83 and Jan 85 (13 months apart) where it was in the 70's the day before it plunged into single digits - that killed crepe myrtles all over Atlanta to the ground. Didn't even have that many begonias back then let alone test any for hardiness. Let us know in the spring how it goes for you.

The low in my back yard this morning was 5.2 degrees. With the high struggling to reach the 20's today, and another cold night (probably low teens), it looks like my begonias are going to finally get the test they haven't gotten in the last 4 years!

3 degrees here this morning but it will be in the 60's Saturday.

Hope your trials are successful.

It's almost balmy here this afternoon. The difference that 24 hours makes!

Check out the fat caudex of my aconitifolia between my thumb and index finger!

High today is 37 degrees, I do feel sorry for you people who aren't used to the cold white stuff.

Joan,

I feel sorry for the folks who have to live in the cold white stuff. Just wished I could pack up and move further south - like Belize or Costa Rica!

HA!

60+ degrees here today with the sun shining after a dark and hard rain this morning. Sure beats that single digit temps earlier this week.

Don't know the name of this small rhizo but it is heavy in blooms this time of year.

I would not have dreamed winter weather could be so severe in D.C. and in Georgia and I do have great sympathy for you growers. At least in our area, we are used to it, but it must be a nightmare for other growers. Mother Nature can be a so-and-so. . . ...

This is our coldest winter in 20 years, and after several extended periods with temperatures well below freezing this month, I expect the ground to freeze deeply and to kill all of my "hardyish" begonias. If any do survive, I will declare them hardy!

It certainly will be a good trial for them. Wishing you luck there.

I have a few plants from Ozzie Johnson that he says have been hardy for him but I am not that trusting until I build up a good amount of them to try in the ground.

Srill wringing my hands over what we see on the news,keep those lightweight small sedans off the road, they are not safe for snow-covered roads anywhere.

HUH? Neither are 18 wheelers. Speed and ice don't mix well.

yeah, we had horrible pictures of semis with their trailers doing their own thing, on the highway going toward Glacier Park.And these are the guys who, if you have to drive the interstate, and you see them at a service station, you ask them how the road is . .

icy conditions with lots of cars and big trucks = a huge mess