I picked mine. There were so few of them that it wasn't worth covering them.

There aren't any warnings here but the meteorologist on the radio said there was a likelihood of "ground f**** in low-lying areas" and we're in one. So it was a big rigamarole tonight - picking tomatoes, carrying containers of more tender plants into dh's tarp shed, and grouping some containers around the ladder and throwing a tarp over the whole thing. I also brought the rest of my houseplants in and took the alternanthera and red shield hibiscus down to my son's. He wont't be home for a couple of months anyway, and i don't think he'll mind overwintering them for me.

Same here, I cleaned up today, the tomatoes where sick looking anyway and falling like flies!
We had a least 2 times light fr..st,..well generally, another good growing year is ending!...sad isn't it.
Konrad

My tomatoes also didn't do that great this year. So the rest were all picked off yesterday.

Shelley

I just picked my butternut squash. And I'm glad to see that the rest of you are picking tomatoes, too. I haven't even had a vine ripe tomato yet. But, I really don't have the energy this year to be out there trying to extend the season any longer for them. I'm going to pick them all today. I've got some nice ones but nothing is ripening. Maybe 3 have a bit of blush but that's it.

Probably should pick my leeks, too. They are buried under the squash vines, so I'm not sure what they even look like.

This year just seemed far too short!!!!! Anyone else feel cheated?

Shauna

You got it! However, a lot of my tomatoes did ripen on the vine, but they were miserable little things, definitely NOT beefsteaks!

Well, I lost my tomatoes and whatever was left of my green beans on Friday night's temperature dip. My home is at the edge of a small town, with little windbreak, so more susceptable to the cooler temps blowing through. Fellow gardeners in the larger city closer to me did not suffer any losses as of yet.

But, I figure it's close enough to the end of the growing season anyway. I did get a lot of vine ripened tomatoes (but I grow the smaller ones, not beefsteak varieties) so I won't complain. Every year I try to extend the season with my flowers (or else I have a problem accepting the growing year is over) by trying to bring as much inside to save/winter over. This year I'm trying to accept season's end, and am only bringing in my Baby Wing Begonia to try to winter over because I liked it so much, well, plus 5 different coleus, oh yeah, thought I'll try to grow lamiastrum in the house too, oh yeah, and that one pretty candy striped ivy geranium. But THAT's it! No more outdoor plants in the house! (yeah right).

~k~

Well, my DH planted the garden this year. He cut off all the lower branches on the tomatoes. The tomatoes are huge and we have had lots of vine ripened tomatoes. Remember the cart I bought this spring and posted a picture of it in the garden accessory thread. Well, it is full for the second time. And..I need to go finish picking tomatoes yet. The average tomato is fist size and larger. I have never had to deal with that many tomatoes that size before. Think I will let him grow them next year also. Now for the salsa, tomato soup, chili sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. He planted 12 pepper plants this year and I have picked 3 large grocery bags of peppers off them...that's enough!

Tonight we are going out to my mom's to help her get her produce (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions) all in before the f***t comes later this week. She is home recouperating from what the doctor's think may be West Nile. The test results will be back in a few days. But the doctor's orders...no work...only rest...so as long as she can provide us the empty containers we will fill them for her. She does the local farmer's market so the garden is extremely large.

Well, out to the garden again, for more squash, onions, corn, beans and the rest of the large tomatoes. I am leaving the 2" and smaller tomatoes on in case the f****t does not come for a while yet.

Then the beets, carrots and potatoes need to be done yet...seems to never end in the fall.

Brenda

Nothing happen last night, thank goodness, I don't want summer to come to an end, not yet, it does seem that we've been shorted this year Shauna since August was so cold.

I still have tons of cherry and Manitoba toms left to pick. This year I planted them in huge black tubs, the size of whiskey barrels. They are those tubs that molasses come in for horses. They really grew well in them, IÂve been picking red ripe ones off the vine since the end of July.

I also brought in some tenders plants in the house yesterday just in case. Alstroemeria, Elephant Ears, Passiflora caerulea, Hibiscus acetosella, Cestrum nocturnum Night Blooming Jasmine, Clitoria ternatea Butterfly Pea, Scented Geranium, 'Black Velvet Scarlet' Geranium and Carex flagellifera Bronze ornamental grass.

Once f**** does strike, I will have to dig up all the Dahlia tubers and store them, I also have a few other plants that will go into the pumphouse for their rest soon too.

No frosts here, yet, but it was chilly yesterday morning with 37*F (3*C) on our thermometer at 8am.

The weather service and the Weather Channel are both predicting a low of 32*F on Wednesday and another frost is possible on Saturday.

I might pick my tomatoes tomorrow and give up for the season. I planted tomato seeds in mid-June (very late) and I've got several softball sized tomatoes, though they are green. Not bad, though, for my first time and having come from seed! They must enjoy the well drained soil, frequent water, and full sun! I'll know next year to get things in about 3 weeks earlier!

Waaaaahhhhh! :(

Here is a link that might be useful: F**** warning

It missed us again. Thank goodness. But maybe if Jack would visit, then the weather would smarten up. It has been so cool.

Shelley

We had a light frost both Friday and Saturday nights, but not much damage yet. It pinched the impatients and fibrous begonias, but beans and marigolds don't show damage. I have enough pickles so I'm only covering the eating cukes now, along with tomatoes, peppers, and muskmelons. We picked our pumpkins - they had quit growing anyway. I'm hoping another week or two will give me more ripe tomatoes and muskmelons. But oh - I really hate to see the flowers go. *sigh*

Connie

We have a frost advisory tonight. 32*F is the forecast low (0*C), and I don't think much damage will be done, but Friday morning a low of 29*F (-2*C) will put an end to it all, I think. I mean.. September 14th with a high of 44*F (7*C)!!??

With the way the weather has been in the past 10 years, the warm weather will be back just in time for the snow season.

It's pouring rain here but the temps lastnight I think got to as low as +2C.... I'm wrapped up in my big thick flannel housecoat, and I had to cover the kids with another blanket each when I got up this morning.

We got it last night, but the damage i've seen so far is light - Bright Lights cosmos and most impatiens that were in the ground are toast. Mind you, i didn't have time to look very closely. The forecast this morning doesn't have anything below 0 for the next week, but +1s and +2s, so the tender containers will stay in the tarp shed for now. I hope dh doesn't need to get his 4-wheeler out of there!!

Well, we got it last night, as well. Temps fell to 32*F (0) by midnight and hovered between 30 and 32*F until 7am.

I covered my cucumbers, beans, and tomatoes, and some of the flowers, and brought all the hanging baskets in..

My Zinnias are toast and the basil is done for as well. My corn and sunflowers sustained a little damage, but are doing alright, and the stuff I covered survived.

The problem was not that it got so cold, but that it was below freezing for so long. Some places in the area recorded 27*F (-3*C)... so it was a killing freeze for some of us.

They are calling for flurries tonight. All I can say is NOOOOOO. Where has our summer gone? And why can't we have a nice fall at least?

Shelley

I can do without the S***!

Shelley, that's what it said for our forecast yesterday but now they are just calling for rain, wind gusting to 60 km/h and a low of -1°C with f****!

Sharon

We dropped down and hovered around 40F last night down here. Areas just to my east saw temps drop all the way down to 33F in Sparta, WI. Friday night into Saturday could/should be worse. Looks like another cold shot next week. Could be a short Fall?

Environment Canada's prediction was for a nice fall. Lying to us again. There oughtta be a law! >:(

Some of the squash leaves got it even though they were covered. I noticed that some sunflowers and the nicandra were pretty dead-looking too. But surprisingly, most of the nicotiana is okay, which is great because i haven't gotten any seeds from them yet!

We're supposed to get down to -2C tonight - so I guess that will be it for most of the stuff around here. I haven't covered anything, since I didn't look at the forcast until 9pm tonight, and now I don't really want to go out to do that - so we'll see how things look in the morning. I guess this weekend I will be able to clean out my pots and fill up my compost bin :)
Janet

Yep, tonight will be the end for any frost sensitive plants! Today, we had rounded up the pumkins, stripped off the remaining tomatoes and heavily covered the peppers. Also brought in any potted plants that might have gotten nipped.

This is the end to what I'd call a rather poor summer! We had only truly squeaked in one good month, that being July ... okay, it was really HOT, but the rains were timely and everything was looking very promising ... then came August and it was nothing but downhill from there!

Can only look forward and hope for better things in 2008!

Terry

Cheers Terry with a mug of hot chocolate!

We had a heavier frost last night than we'd had so far. I'll know tonight what it got. No ice in the puddles this morning at home, but there was ice once I got down off the hill. My tomatoes and eating cukes are still out there, carefully covered. The tomatoes are ripening so nicely, I don't want to bring them in just yet if I don't have to.
Connie

We've been having snow flurries off and on all morning, and it looks like we'll be hit by a killing frost tonight. I should be outside rescuing some plants, but it's too cold to go out there to work. I've shoved some containers into the shed and have moved a few plants into the sunroom.
This weather is depressing to say the least. Marie in Manitoba

Oh wow, I'm shocked, Jack did not visit here last night!

You sure can see the trees turning their beautiful fall colours right now, that's one thing I like about this time of year.

Sharon

Nor here, but we've been having periods of 'white rain' all day and it's COLD out there - I'm going to find my winter hat and mitts.

This morning the cat and i were looking out the living room window and we saw these strange white things falling from the sky. I put myself into complete denial until i started driving to work and saw that some of the low vegetation along the highway had this distinct white look to it.

I AM NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!!

On the Weather Channel this morning they said it was -7°C in Regina. Yuck. :(

Marcia, have you entered the bubble already?!!

When I took the dogs out at 10 last night to do their business it was -2C and the grass was already crunchy and sparkling. This morning everything was white and during my morning walk I noticed that the neighbors dahlias are black and there was a distinct smell of cooked dill in the air. I see the peonies have that frozen look to them - I hope the foliage still manages to survive and give me some fall colour. I haven't gone out to the (annuals) cutting garden yet, but I suspect it's all frozen. That's okay - it was all going to get pulled this weekend anyway.

Our thermometer registered a low of -3.5C overnight. I'm curious if my ash trees will drop their leaves today - they're still green, just starting to yellow slightly, but usually that first killing frost has the leaves falling like rain.

The next couple days are supposed to warm back up into the low 20's and sunshine. Even with frosts and such, this is still my favourite time of year - that is, when the air is crisp and the sun is shining. There's just something about autumn air that invigorates me.

Jack hit us hard last night. It is still white outside.
For the most part, flower season is now over. But gardening isn't. I still have lots of clean up to do as well as planting bulbs.

Shelley

Pudge, I have been in the bubble all summer. :O Its very quiet in here. Storms, frost and hail in every month of the summer.....My poor garden had quite a season....and I just left it to fend for itself.....while I was enjoying the view in the bubble. LOL!!!!

Marcia, Have you been doing the sun dance......I bet you took a break and now you have to put up with that white stuff. I did the mice be gone dance, frost be gone dance, hail and storms be gone dance...I danced and danced...
when I could not dance anymore, I entered the bubble. Come along Marcia the bubble awaits. LOL!!! In here, I don't even look at the temps, I don't care if Jack visits the garden or there is hail or snow....you NEVER SEE THAT HERE IN THE BUBBLE. Ahhhhhhh The bubblebees are busy at work, buzzing away over there...I think there is even some fresh honey that someone collected sitting on the bar over there. MMMMM. Oh can someone check and see that the fall garden cleanup gets done in my garden, before entering the bubble? Thanks! LOL!!! ;)

Sierra

It was -1.9C here when I woke up this morning. It was below freezing for a few hours, so most things are toast.:(
Where's that bubble gone to now....have to find it and hop in.........

They said it went down to -2.0°C here in Wainwright, but I must of be spared, my Dahlias & toms are still green ;)

Sharon

...bubblebees, LOL

We didn't get any lastnight, but we had a good dose on Monday night. My planters full of perennials to move, spent the night in the garage and covered with blankets. They are saying it's going to be nice over the wknd but I'm keeping the blankets in the garage just in case!

Sierra, i'm dancing as fast as i can! LOL Maybe i should just slip into the bubble and forget about the garden for this year. I didn't enjoy it all that much anyway, for some reason.

My containers have been in dh's tarp shed all week. They're going to think the sun has gone out permanently! From the sounds of the forecast i can bring them out tomorrow. I hope this is it for a couple of weeks at least. I still need to get seeds from some things.

I got lucky with the last round of frost - must be that the city keeps temperatures a little warmer. The only plants that looked frosted are my begonias - although the rest of the planter looks fine, and my endless summer hydrangea. The Pee Gee hydrangea looks fine though. Most of my dwarf oriental lillies I doubt will come back next year though since most still have flower buds on them and they are already turning yellow. Surprisingly the tall oriental lillies are not yellowing yet.
Janet

I gave in this weekend and picked everything, since this week's forecast varies between cool and wet, and cold and not so wet. I collected some seed too, but I'm hoping to have a chance at some that isn't quite ready yet. Not too much is frozen, except for the tender stuff - pumpkin, beans, marigold, and such - but the fall colors are starting to come.
Connie

I guess I can officially declare our first frost last night, dahlias, tomatoes, daturas, impatiens, zinnas and other tenders are black!

Sharon