I think sheets work as well as anything.
They should be held firmly to the ground to trap the earth's heat and keep out any below freezing air.

I have had better luck with frost blankets. I have found that if you put them on the day before they hold more heat and you get much better protection.

Lisa,

I've been looking for the frost covers you described -- those with the pull strings. Where'd you get yours? Do you remember the name brand?

this time, i used heavy duty paper-cloth dropcloths from lowes. (12 by 9). they are plastic on one side, and a felt-y paper on the other side. as paint dropcloths, the plastic side stops the paint, the paper side soaks it up. i put the felt side towards the plants. they are very lightweight (lighter even than plastic dropcloths), and performed very well. only cost a few bucks (i think the deluxe ones were $4, but they might have been more or less). took 'em down this morning and they were as good as new after two days in gusty winds.

i also used the frost-cloths from lowes (not as fancy as lisa's). much more expensive ($10 i think). i really frankly couldn't tell much difference.

i used christmas lights. the setup seemed to have worked -- we got down to 25 and, while my tomatoes and eggplants were damaged, i think they'll make it.

If you are looking for the drawstring polypropelene ones just google "frost protek"- there are several sites you can purchase them from. You can also get rolls of the polypropelene from Frostproof.com. The drawstring ones are supposed to protect to 28 degrees, the rolls from Frostproof are used commercially (I use it on rows of veggies, etc.) and I believe protect to 22 degrees. You can leave these on for several days as long as it doesn't go over 80 degrees. Check out Frostproofs other merchandise too-great prices on things like Felco pruners.
wendy

Great! I'll be more prepared next time. Thanks for your replies. That drop-cloth idea is inspired!

Well this is my first year using frost blanket and I must say it didn't seem to protect my plants any better than sheets.
Having said that I think the advantage for most frost blankets is that is still lets the sun and and the wet out. But I could be wrong.

This freeze I didn't have any frost due to the lack of humidity in the air so I guess I can't really judge my frost blankets to quickly.

Sadly enough most of the items I covered with a frost blanket or sheet looks bad.
I think the temps were just to cold. Some of my plants do not look like I had anything on them to protect them. Sad day....

Any one else have an opinion on how well or not their frost blankets worked?

Ariel-I didn't use any frost covers at all this time, for the reason you stated- it was too dry for frost and the temp was predicted so low for Tampa I didn't think it would help much without some source of heat like lights,etc., and because I'm getting lazy. I've had bad luck with covers on ornamentals also-I'm convinced that covering them makes it worse (I'm probably totally wrong) but in my experience all my plants I covered look like crap compared to those left to fend for themselves. I only use the frost covers for veggies and things that I don't care what they look like as long as they produce something edible. Sorry to be so negative, hopefully someone else can tell you how well they worked!
Wendy

The frost blankets and sheets (I ran out of frost blankets), both worked fine to protect my plants. I used tall stakes to keep the blankets off the foliage, except for the big trees, where they were resting directly on the leaves/branches. The sheets weigh more, so they bend down branches/foliage, but they bounced back okay.

The frost blankets are lighter, can be left on, and are just easier to use. Now I have to wash a huge pile of sheets(G).

Ariel, did you tack down the bottoms on the covers to prevent the wind from going up under them? I used garden staples and lots of rocks! I wrapped the trunks separately if the plant was too tall for me to tack down the skirt to the ground.

I'm kinda shocked that everything looks so normal. I expected a major loss.

Did you lose any favorite fruit trees? I have spares of many plants if you need replacements.

Lisa

Lisa, I had the blanket and sheets held down with stepping stones so they stayed in place really good. Though many of the blankets and sheets were touching the plants, which was a mistake because it burned some of the plants. Next time I will get some stakes so they do not touch the plants.

Thank you for your kind offer but I don't think I lost any of my fruit trees despite them looking a bit sad. Though can a girl ever have too many fruit trees? I don't think so!

I need to take a road trip and meet some of ya'll and go plant shopping!!!