It really depends on what you want to put out. I had planned on putting out tomatoes, cucs and zinnia seedlings this Saturday, but it looks like I will wait another weekend...
I planted over 20 different perennials in my yard last weekend, so I think they might be ok since it's not quite a freeze.
In my opinion, I would wait if you can. Otherwise, you can cover the plants to be careful.

Thoughts from anyone else??

I just bought a whole bunch of tomatoes and also had planned to put them out, but I'm not sure that I will do it...too much $$$ down the drain if they get hit..and I have too many to cover.

I'll be interested in what others think....my DH does not think it will get that cold...here it says 37 as the low sunday pm/monday early am..

is 37 too risky for tomatoes?

Well this really sucks, but I had a feeling this might happen. Last weekend I checked the 10 day forecast out and the lowest it was showing was around 44 degrees, so it was looking good through the last frost date for this area. So last weekend I planted cucs, squash, peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, and strawberries.

Now weather.com is saying lows of 33 Sun., 31 Mon., and 33 Tues. Luckily, most of my stuff is in containers. Sunday I'll be dragging 11 12" plastic containers, 2 16" clay containers, 2 leafing out Japanese Maples in large bowls, and 3 earthboxes into the garage for a few days.

Then I'll have to try to protect the watermelons and strawberries that I planted in my raised bed. Any ideas on protecting the mellons? They're about 5 inches tall right now and I'm afraid a sheet or something like that would break them. Maybe some 16 oz. plastic cups held in place with a weight???

I'm west of ya'll and they're predicting 3 nights in a row of below freezing temps with low of 29 Monday. I really thought we were in the clear this year =(

I was wondering if anyone had opinions on what might need protecting. I know some of the more obvious tender stuff (hostas, hydrangeas, etc...) but any thoughts on Heucheras, clematis and Japanese maples?? I can't remember how affected these plants are to short-term dips below freezing. I'd hate for any of this stuff to lose all its foliage, especially the maples (Crimson Queen, Bloodgood & Viridis). They look prettier and healthier right now than I've seen them in quite some time.

I know they say April 15 is the safe date but darnit, it's been one of the best Springs temp & rain wise I can remember in a while and I couldn't resist. I've got corn seedlings several inches high already. Good thing I didn't have time to plant my pepper and basil plants yesterday. I tried to tell my perennial plants, trees and shrubs not to grow too big just yet but they never listen when conditions are this nice.

Danielle

My Japanese maple got nipped last year. If we have freezing temps here, I thought I'd cover it up this time. Your Heuchera might be ok. There are just so many things up now that would have to be covered! I'm hoping it won't get that cold!

I just put down Petunias the other day. I have a feeling they are going to take a beating. I am guessing I should cover them, or should they be okay? If I have to cover what should I use, sheets?

Squirrelly pete, so your in Alabama now? I thought you used to live near me. The forecast here is for mid-low 30s.

All I can tell you is that last year my 2 Japanese Maples took a big hit. They were leafed out and both got zapped. They not only lost leaves, but a lot of branch structure. I was worried about the smaller waterfall, but it's rebounded, although it's half the size it was last year before the freeze because I had to prune off so much dead growth.

Right now the Waterfall has young leaves just emerged. The other one is still mostly buds. They are in ground, so I can't bring them inside (might be a good idea to change that....) I'm toying with the idea of putting out two electric heaters near them during the night just incase. We have a few of those sealed oil heaters that look like radiators. We use them in the house instead of putting on the gas heat.

I am still seeing the effects of the freeze we had a few weeks ago. I thought we escaped most of the damage, but my roses still look off and they are almost in a suspended state, no buds, little new growth.

I need a whole yard bubble.

Hmmm, thanks for the advice Pam & Buford. I knew last year's late hard freeze really did a number on the maples but I wasn't sure about a minor freeze. It sounds like it's still going to be a problem.

Buford, yep, I've actually been in Alabama long before the first GA trade I attended. I stay registered under the GA forum though because I'm so close to the state line and my mom is still in Newnan so we come to the trades together. I hear you about a yard bubble. Last year the Crimson Queen & Viridis were small and bendable enough to fold underneath large rubbermaid trash cans which protected most of the interior foliage but they're too tall this year. I might be trying to tent them somehow and running lamps out there too. The bloodgood is probably too big to help and it's such a shame. It really took a beating last year and still has alot of dead growth even though it looks so pretty right now.

The things we do for our plants.
Danielle

I'm believeing for it NOT to freeze...I have way too much real estate to cover everything...(well I should say, all my stuff is all over the place).

Lets say that in my area (middle ga) that we only get to the 37 it is predicting...there could be frost, even if there is not a freeze, because of the moisture...

Is there anything specifically that I should be worried about? Hydrangeas? maple? PEACHES???? YIKES...that will sure be shame...I just saw little tiney weiny baby peaches on both of my trees...then I have some young veggies (I have beans, a few very small peppers, various greens and inch long corn poppin up so far planted in the garden)

anyone have suggestions? I am thinking that a few hours of near freezing, might not be a problem for me? Am I dreaming?

Imagine if you work in a nursery or garden center and have large amounts of vulnerable stock and not a lot of place to put them.

:(

GGG

Did you guys get the Walter Reeves note on the cold weather? Here is what he said:

"First: bring indoors all of those Boston fern, hibiscus and Christmas cacti you've put outdoors. Kirk predicts a windy couple of nights, so if cold doesn't hit them, wind might knock them down.

Second: individual plants in a garden, like tomato, pepper, basil, etc can be protected a couple of ways.

#1: Cut the bottom out of old black plastic gallon pots. Press each one firmly into the ground around single plants.

#2: Cut the bottom out of gallon milk jugs, remove the lid and likewise press them firmly around individual plants.

Third: tender annual flowers like impatiens, begonia, geranium, etc can be covered with a bedsheet. Failing that, black plastic will work if you put stakes among the plants to keep the plastic from touching plant leaves. Using clear plastic is a bad idea: temperatures inside the "greenhouse" will cook your plants if it's sunny, no matter what the air temperature outdoors."

Here is a link that might be useful: Walter Reeves Cold Weather articles

I am using every single extra sheet available in this house to cover hydrangeas, newly emerged dahlias, basil, peonies, etc.
If it means i need to strip my bed to cover tender perennials and annuals - so be it! :-)

The black plastic bags will not work because it's impossible to not have it touch the plant.

Luckily this year I have bags of shredded leaves hanging around, I'm going to use that on some things. But I can't protect everything.

I now see on weather bug for Monday night high 20s. That could be bad.

I don't think it will be as bad as last year, but who knows.

I've always wondered....is it the actual temperature or the "feels like" temperature that we have to worry about. If it's actual, I might be okay right at freezing, but my feels like is predicted to be 5-7 degrees less.

I feel like crying because I just walked through my yard and saw that I've got dozens of irises getting ready to bloom and don't know of any way to protect them. They all got zapped last year and I hate for it to happen again.
I've got a rose that I bought as a little baby band 3 years ago that is just covered in buds and it's never bloomed before. *sob* Will a bedsheet be enough to protect it without crushing it?
There's so many other things that I want to protect like my azaleas and Spanish bluebells...way too much to cover. I need that whole yard bubble, too. :( And the poor dogwoods are so gorgeous right now! It seems like such a cruel irony that we're finally getting enough rain to have things thrive and now they're gonna get zapped by below freezing temperatures in the middle of April! Gggrrr!

I'm with you Natalie. I'm using everything not nailed down to cover things up. Last year I just covered up a few things, and lots of my stuff ended up looking like someone had thrown scalding water on them. Its a lot of work to cover them all, but that's better than being heartbroken like I was last year the morning after the big freeze

Are you in the mountains? If so, I would proabaly try to cover as much as possible, especially my iris'. My daylilies are tough as nails and they don't have any visable buds yet. I think it's still a bit early. You sound like me though, in that I have way too many things blooming to be able to cover them all.

Last year my sister who lives in NE AL used a bed sheet to cover some of her plants. The Saturday before the Easter freeze 2006, I planted a new hosta/fern bed...yup...wasn't paying any attention to the weather forcast that weekend. I frantically placed a plastic tarp to over my plants and it worked well.

I tried using a bedsheet for my hydrangeas this year, but man! It's a pain to figure out how to keep it in place! Ha! The tarps have the rivets where you can at least pull some twine through and tie them down, but those bedsheets are not very cooperative. (Okay...I know I sound like an idiot with that/those statement(s), but I did tie the ends together to make a parachute over the top...was a funny picture when the wind blew it up!)

I had a couple of oakleaf hydrangea (again, this year) that were too large to even begin covering so I had to leave them alone and pray for the best. One, in particular, was protected from the wind by the canopy of trees under which is it planted. That wouldn't have protected it from below freezing temps I'm sure, but it has leafed out very well since then.

The day about three weeks ago, that we had snow showers and everybody here thought the snow was actually Bradford Pear flowers blowing in the wind, all of my plants did okay. I see where we're supposed to get snow showers on Monday as well, but I'm thinking that I'm probably not going to go all out and cover many of my things. I mean...Monday's high is 51*; low 32* and then on Tues. the high is 63* again. I think most things will be okay unless we stay below freezing for a prolonged number of hours. This is so weird!!! Life in the South is interesting, to say the least!

Of course, as anyone who has read my posts can tell you, I am not anywhere near being an expert. This is my fourth spring in NE GA and I'm still learning. I moved from South/South Central AL and it's a whole different animal (so to speak) there.

Good luck with your beauties; I hope they fair well

Beverly

Sometimes I think it is that much more heartbreaking to spend all your effort covering things and loose them anyway, I am not sure I am going to bother. I mean which do I choose anyway? I am hoping it won't be that bad. Last year the first night my stuff was ok it wasn't until the next night when the lows got to the 20's that it was bad.

I packed up most of the tender stuff tonight and just dragged it inside while I could. I put everything I could muster in the greenhouse at work, and tomorrow at Church we'll have to stack everything back in the greenhouse and cold frames which means wearing scrubby dirty old clothing to church!
My hydrangeas are a mess because of the drought and tornado so I'm not bothering with them. My pink iris is finally blooming for the first time ever, and I hate to loose that. I got one little fan in a trade several years ago and it's multiplied well. However, last year after the late frosts we had, my irises were cut back but then bloomed 5 times as much as they ever had before and were stunning.
If I need to, I will do two layers on some things like transplants and seedlings (not the hot weather seedlings, those are still unplanted and came inside...) I will lay down a sheet and then an old shower curtain over them. I save old pillow cases to pop over smaller pots (I just planted a ton of sedums, some more tender). My Japanese maple was ravaged in last years frost and drought and I had just cut back the dead twigs...so I will wrap it in a sheet and clothespin that on to the plant which works great. I hope I don't loose all of the buds on the rose Rosey gave me. It's just starting to open!

GGG

Buford, your "yard bubble" actually inspired me. I'm taking drastic measures this year, went out and bought some supplies last week. Hated to spend the money but at least I'll have the stuff if this is going to be a problem every Spring. I'm going to tent as many of my beds as I can with plastic sheeting and bedding and I bought a bunch of those moveable work lamps with a clamp on the end to help keep those beds warm over the next three nights. Gonna' have to use some stakes and build a couple of make shift wood frames today to attach the plastic to and keep it from touching the plants. Built temporary teepees over my maples last week so I'll be wrapping those up tonight with burlap and blankets. My Irises are also about to burst into bloom and they were one of my most heartbreaking freeze losses last year but I'm not going down without a fight this year. They are in the beds I'll be tenting so I'm hoping they'll be protected. They all struggled so much over the last 12 months and are finally recovering so I don't have the heart not to try. 3 more nights then we SHOULD be in the clear.

I better get busy so I'm heading outside. Good luck everyone; hopefully it won't get as cold as they're predicting. Danielle

If anyone needs rebar or 1/2" PVC near Grant Park area to build stuff, I have some, and would prefer to recycle it to someone else versus keep it hanging around doing nothing. I see the temps are guesstimated to get down to 31 now, but I think we're going to weather it and see what happens.

I used clear plastic last year, and it worked just fine. Yes you have to open it up when the sun comes up just as you would a cold frame. Some of the leaves that were up against the plastic did freeze.

I have seven poles, with a pole on the top that they are tied too.

I also tried to wrap tomatoes that were on a stake. They froze quicker because there was not as much ground underneath to keep them warm.

Atlanta, Near Piedmont Park. I have chicken wire over my tomatoes also to protect from the squirrels.

See my Flicker PhotoÂs of my covered tomatoes last year.

Karyl
====

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of my tomatoes covered last year

I use clothes pins to fasten the plastic together , and twist ties to fasten the chicken wire. You can also use bread ties or clothes pins to tie the plastic around the stake. Rocks or bricks to hold the bottom down.

See my Flicker PhotoÂs of my tomatoes poles last year.

Karyl
====

Here is a link that might be useful: My Flicker Photo's of the pole supports

i brought in houseplants i had out,but really think with the warm days we've had lately,most everything is growing well enough to stand a minor cold snap such is predicted.i don't think it's gonna stay that cold long enough to hurt anything.

well, went out today, looks like the wind has taken out two of my green bean vines

They've revised the forecast for my area, now the lowest is mid-30s - which is a lot better than the mid-high 20s they were saying yesterday.

I'm still concerned, but I don't think it's going to be that cold for that long to cause major damage.

My irises don't even have flower stalks yet, so I don't have to worry about them. The roses can take down to 30, so they will be ok. I'll probably lose the blossoms on my crapapples, but they'll be ok.

i was talking to one of our people @ work that's here from the our Swiss HQ, she was telling me that no sooner than her tulips were up and blooming, they got nailed with a freak snowstorm that put them under 6-8" of snow.

really put things in perspective for me. here, i was pissed about a couple of bean sprouts being mangled!

Looks like temps tonight (monday) wont drop below 40 and then tuesday it is saying 37, 38, 39 for about 4 hours (5am to 9am)

Any reason to do any covering with these temps? Of course there still exists a chance it wont get that cold.

I just got done covering all the plants I put in the ground with sheets and blankets. I've brought all the potted ones inside. I'm just not taking the chance this time with my beauties. I did warn the neighbors that there would be sheets everywhere to protect the plants. With rising costs I can't replace them if they die now. I hope the next few day with be very forgiving to you all.
Stay Warm.

Yay! They've revised the forecast for Athens to a low of 36 for tonight, but Accuweather says the RealFeel will be around 30. Do you think that matters to plants or does only the actual temperature matter to them?
Tomorrow night's actual temperature low is said to be 35, but the RealFeel will be 38, which is a little weird. LOL! Hopefully, we'll squeak by the actual freezing temps and then we'll be in the clear. *fingers crossed*

Mid thirtie!
MID SHIRTIE!@

I had such a big bonfire in my front yard that it warmed the entires states forecast up( without a forest fire)

Say hello to my buddie, SUMMER! She's soooo !HOT!

I MEAN it's on... I'm a summer guy, I could barely stand this late last minute teaser of cold.

Today( tuesday) I am actually going to bundle up with a buddy. I mean COME ONE.
Are we in summer yet? We can do the dance if I give a say so !
See you on the round abouts my love

My bad gals and guys i didn't mean to sound so silly.
A lot of you are going to be in a bit of a chill about this.
What I meant was that I got hit so hard last lear that I planned accordinly for cold weather real late in the year.
For me, the garden is blooming with chamomile and apple and figs and it's ok if a few of them get nipped.

The real season is JUSt starting.
Last year, I had produce LONG after every everyone elses plants had pettered out, because I planted all over again after a loss.

This is a good sign, trust me,
THE RAIN IS AWESOME
I have been finding massive handful of Morel mushrooms and even an oyster or two this early. And it's only going to get better.

My advice is to not worry, play it safe and let nature do what it does.
Do what it do baby! I mean seriously I'm a hardcore gardener like most of you and I spend almost all of my free time with my garden.
So be safe and be happy.

PS- It's Tuesday, 1:28 AM on April 15th( did yoi do your taxes?)"sorry> and I stepped outside and it feels like fourty degrees.

So far it hasn't hit freezing up here, but looks like tonight could be the night. I've got towels wrapped around my newly planted salvia and flame acanthus plants.
Hope that will do the trick. I have 3 blueberrie plants, about 3.5 feet tall each, and don't think I'm going to be able to do anything to them.

Yikes, I didnt think about my new blueberries...better get another sheet or two...

I discovered something unexpected when I went out front to cover up my 2 hydrangeas....I have daylillies blooming!! They are the only ones blooming, but they are there..what a pleasant surprise, so they too got tucked under the sheets.

Not really sure what the temps will actually be, but better safe than sorry I guess.

Well they were still predicting mid-high twenties for last night locally but the actual recorded temps on weather.com this morning say it only hit 32. My own "yard bubble" may have been alot of unncessary work but I didn't want to take the chance since the forecast wouldn't make up its mind. We did have heavy frost this morning though so maybe it wasn't for nothing. Everything inside my tents with the lamps on at night stayed toasty enough so I think we're in the clear now. Might hit freezing again tonight so I'll tear everything down tomorrow. Everything else that didn't get covered didn't look too damaged today. Looks like we dodged the last winter bullet.

Danielle

Yep, mine only said 36 this morning and the anise plants didn't droop (they usually do at 32 degrees).

The last two nights we covered the new stuff and the hydrangas. It may have been over doing it, but last April was such a shock that we wanted to be safe. Everything looks good! Crape Myrtles and Jap Maples were the main concern for uncovered plants, and they seem to be unharmed!

Woody, talk about overdoing it, I covered eeeverything... new hosta growth, sprouting phlox, the whole nine yards. I was determined NOT to be devastated like I was last year on the morning after. As it turns out, they probably would've been ok, but who knew? Now I gotta get off the computer and remove all the coverings before the sunlight cooks them! Hopefully we are done with frost for this year.

I got stuff covered too, and I went out this morning and there was a thick layer of frost on my sheets...I dont know if it was there long enough to do damage (if they had NOT been covered) but I'm sure glad that I took the time :)

frost frost go away and come again on a january day

I didn't even get frost. When I got up this morning, it was 33 so it didn't get below freezing here. Different micro-climates I guess.

Let's hope that's the last of it.

Well, I couldn't cover everything that needed it, so decided they must fend for themselves, same as they did during last year's Easter weekend deepfreeze, that occurred while we were 300 miles south. Losses were minimal then and we had two nights with temperatures in the mid-20's.
The lowest temperature experienced this week, was 38°. Elevation has a dramatic effect on temperature. Valleys usually are somewhat colder than nearby hills. My garden is at an elevation of 1040-1052' AMSL and is often several degrees at variance with nearby weather stations, sometimes warmer, other times colder!
One of my tree Paeonia's decided to test it's cold resistance and set a single large red bloom on Sunday!
That occurance is usually a prerequisite for stormy weather, with strong winds & heavy downpours, that promply destroys the delicate flower petals, before we have an opportunity to enjoy them! This year, we can still enjoy it, as it is near our potting area, where a lot of activity is in progress.
Hope everyone survived the chill without any losses!
Maybe Springtime has finally arrived to stay, until summer and the vegetables can now shed their pots.:Rb