All you really need to do is huddle them in a group, throw a light tarp over them and run a 60 watt light bulb under the tarp if you would feel better doing that.
The roots will NOT freeze, you are getting a frost not a deep freeze.
Where they mine, I would leave them where they are, as they are. ( in fact I have done just that fro 2 frost warning here already Ria.

Forecast says: Widespread frost & a hard freeze is expected early Tue am. A freeze warning means sub-freezing temps are imminent or highly likely. Well they're in. It's supposed to be in the 70s Tue afternoon. Yay!

I water well & pray. Something about the moisture rising & keeping the frost from settling. Dunno but I do it. I've also heard you can wrap them in Christmas lights. It worked for a sub heat mat so it should work for that too. You're a chicken Ria, I have over 200 & we brought every last one of them in. LOL

Linda

thank you so much ruth_ann! that's tremendously comforting. they're near the edge of the deck - maybe I should push them over toward the house more?

LOL LINDA. AM NOT! some of these are 9 or 10 feet tall and the pots are 20+ gallon and full to the brim with waterlogged soil :P the seven or so foot tall ones came in but it's just so much to deal with.

okay. my two best friends helped me bring EVERYTHING inside except the 9-10 foot tall xena and the huge passiflora incense that's trained over the deck railing. we draped a huge tarp over the xena and the railing and secured it. wish me luck :)

and good luck to everyone else in the unfortunate east!

Ria

lol Linda...lol ria.

I cross my fingers that all will be just fine once winter says good bye for good for this season!!

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

Lucy

thanks Lucy!

My really tall ones were laid down for the winter (low ceilings). I only made a million trips with the little ones & left the big stuff for DH & oldest son. I have a hernia & am not supposed to lift over 10 lbs (like I can live like that). The fun ones were the Rubbermaid containers, the really huge ones you could put a body in. LOL I can't get in the basement, front or back porch or dining room. Hope it warms up tomorrow night. I won't be able to sleep tonight & will be checking the temps & panicking if they get too low. I should have covered the tomatoes & peppers & now I can't see to do them.

Linda

Linda how are your tomatoes and peppers? did they make it ok? I hope so!! I am always relieved when the weather man was wrong and I did all that hauling for nothing but keeping them safe from potential danger.

Lucy

I live in WV, and I woke up to a very light frost. Did bother the Wave petunia basket I have sitting outside tho.I think I am closer to zone 6B where I live.
tammy

I hope you were spared. I dont usually say to cover with a tarp and never with plastic sheeting but for a frost, the light bulb would likely generate the small amount of heat needed to offset the cold damage. (The frost wouldn't get to the plants but the actual cold could damage the tender tips, thus the light bulb)

Weatherbug said it got to 33. The tomatoes & peppers just got nipped but they will be OK. It's supposed to be 72 today so I will be carrying everything back out in a little bit. I'll have to get DS or wait for DH to come home Fri to move the big ones. Next year maybe I will remember to put up stakes for the frost cloth to rest on when I plant early. That would make it so much easier. & a yard light in the garden so I don't have to be crawling around in the dark. & a watering system & ... LOL

Linda

Hope everything was ok and none of you had plant damage. Its been unusually cool here in the mornings lately. Very nice weather for this time of year. If I have to use a tarp or anything to cover the plants I try to lay it over something so it doesn't touch the plant and the heat rising from the earth gets held in underneath. Putting stakes is a great idea instead of trying to drag all kinds of stuff into the garden last minute, lol.