Jr, we went through this last yr, too..it was beautiful and then the darn cold came..think we even had snow..I don't think it disturbed the bulbs though.
I posted about planting Pineapple Sage and was told it's best to wait..so I'm guessing that applies to your plants, too. See what happens when we get nice days here in IL? We get so excited, and all for nothing..lol..I'd rather had had it remain cool, then warm up and stay warm until Oct.
I have an old garden book that talks about planting roses in Feb..I did it once and the rose took..still have it in fact..It's a climber don't know if that makes a difference.
Apr is so unpredictable. We can still have blizzards..Are u sure they said freezing temps?? I hope they're wrong..I was upset when I heard 50 tomorrow, and now you're talking 32 or less??? Like I said, hope they're wrong.
I sure hope the lilies/tulips, etc will be ok..My Primrose, arum, tulips, are about to bloom..Some tulips buds have opened. Guess it's best to wait..Toni

*Shriek!!* Freezing???

jstark are ya sure it is going BELOW 32f ??
Hot damn! I just potted all my superhuge bleepin' tubs...
I can barely move today, my back is so stiff from mixing and hauling..
oh mercy, I need to go and clean up my porch then,drag the whole shebang inside..
Hi T, my clemmies came on monday..Lemon bells looks madly exciting.
How come gweb does not offer local weather forecasts?
wouldn't that be great?
Maybe it wouldn't be so detailed but something like general temps and warnings, freezing etc.,
It is about 8am wednesday and it's lukewarm and windy,I can feel the cool creeping up though..
My lillies are up by 2-3 inches, But I still have a lot of mulch left in the beds,my hollyhocks started showing in feb. and my experience is that nothing perturbs them, if freeze hits, they'll simply send up new leaves..
But mine are planted in the ground already, if yours are inside, as some of my 1 yr seedlings are, bring 'em all back in, just in case. ah, I just re-read your posting, barerroot? with no top growth yet? no problem leave them out but againsta protected wall, or sink them halfway in the ground if you want to be on the safe side,if they have sprouts that have come up while inside, drag 'em all back in, they might be too tender .

What?, hold on a sec, you have bareroot hollyhock?
How old is it?
All my hocks have giant taproots about a foot long..
Not the seedlings but thats because they are not big enough yet.
What is it and were did you find it?
I wouldn't worry about the lillies and tulips, they can handle some rough weather.

well, better get started then.
klk

I use myway.com which you can personalize to your closest airport for weather (using weather.com). Just checked it again, this is for Gary-Chicago airport. Five day forecast is a little better, Thursday is fine now. But Friday is still low of 31 and Saturday low of 32. Last night all three nights were 30 and 31.

I bought a bag of 6 bareroot hollyhocks from Walmart. They had sprouts when I got them, I potted them in quart pots and barely got the roots in there. They have a bunch of leaves now, more than the ones in the ground which are also showing growth.

I've got lots of tulips open, mostly Triumphs and Darwins although the Red Emperors I planted in the fall are finally open too. Still waiting on the new Apricot Beauties planted in the fall and various other "early" types. Second year late tulips (Angelique) have fat buds. Lilacs have buds too.

There's a good chance we'll get one more night under 32 degrees. NOAA has Chicago records online and O'Hare usually records at least one night under 32 after mid April (some of them are in mid May! May 21 2002 had a low of 31). Keep the row covers ready!

Here is a link that might be useful: Chicago Climate records

Depending on your location and even on your microclimate, you might not get hit. Things like how sheltered a site is, warmth from a house, etc. can help. And the forecasts vary - I'm on the Northwest Side near Jefferson Park, and it's only scheduled to go down to 34 on Friday and 33 on Saturday. Still, it seems like a good idea to protect plants just in case.

If you haven't put starts in the ground yet, or if they're in containers, I'd go through the trouble of hauling them into the house or the garage.

For everything else, if you can't afford row covers or can't get them by Friday, and if like the average Chicagoan you don't have a good source for hay or straw... For small plants you've already put in the ground, and for any plants you already have that have not fully leafed out yet, you can take milk jugs, soda bottles, etc. with the bottoms cut off and the tops removed, and put them over each plant to make a little cloche. (You drive the edge of the jug into the ground a little so it won't blow away.) For larger plants, use boxes, overturned buckets, You can also take a tomato cage, a peony ring, or even just a tube bent out of chicken wire or pea fencing, and staple clear plastic around it (you can get it really cheap at Home Depot.) Essentially you want something that will work like a cloche - vented a little, but something that will warm the soil temperature.

The easiest thing to do may be to protect a whole bed - in the space of a half hour, you can make some very basic structure (like thin PVC pipe just bent into a "C" shape and stuck in the ground, or even just scrap wood either nailed together or even leaned up against the house) and staple/duct tape a bunch of plastic on it. Your neighbors will think you're weird for one night, and it'll only raise the temperature a couple of degrees, but that may be all you need.

If it's just for one night, is there any reason you couldn't use torn-apart Hefty bags or something? Would they not be thick enough? If you left them on during the day they'd occlude light and cook the plants, but would it be an option just to get them through the nighttime low?

...I don't know anything about wrapping big plants and shrubs - I am guessing you need the special breathable fabric to do it? Would that protect all that tender new growth? One of my roses actually put out a tiny *bud* today. ...I'm not even going to bother with the apple tree, which is about to bloom any day now - if the frost hits us I'm officially declaring it screwed.

Beyond that... the only thing to do is mulch like mad. Wood chips, straw, hay, leaves, peat moss, even newspaper. As much mulching/wrapping as you can.

Here is a link that might be useful: quick and dirty weatherproofing ideas

I don't think this will happen. Low 30s are predicted all the way down into Alabama.. Not only that, they are saying partly cloudy and wind. Clouds and wind are the two best recepies to keeping the temps from freezing, so it just doensn't make any sence. Also, since all the trees are leafed out, areas or even whole yards under them most likely will not get any frost. I would only expect frost in open areas probably 50ft+ from homes.
I planted some impatiens and other things, but I can easily throw some towels over them, or even put on the sprinkler early in the morning before the temp hits 32F.

There have been lots of times that weather.com says this, and it will be 40F at my house and 38F at the nearest station, which is out in the open. We will see...

I don't think tonight will be a concern - even with some snow flurries in the forecast the air should stay above freezing - I'm worried about Saturday night. If it clears up, and we get a strong wind out of the north as it looks right now, we will definitely get temps below 32, and maybe into the upper 20's. The sheltering effect of trees, foliage, and buildings only works if the air is mostly calm. You get a 20 mph wind at 30 degrees, it's going to be 30 degrees everywhere. Let's hope that wind turns a little and comes out of the northeast so the lake warms it a bit - that's the only way we'll avoid a freeze this weekend.

The forecast doesn't make sense. If it is windy and cloudy, it is next too impossible to drop below 32 degrees this time of year..Their is too much residual heat around and the wind will mix the cold air with the warmer. This is what happened during the last cold spell. It didn't get any where near as cold as the forecast due to clouds and a steady wind. It may drop to 32 or 33 for a short time early in the morning, but is difficult to go lower than that. I would still protect any tender growth in case it does clear off and winds go still.

Well, dang, luckily I haven't planted annuals, yet. 35 tonight and 29 (burrrrr) tomorrow night for here. Pulling back into the garage; the brugs, acclimating flats of annuals, amorphaphallus, new hosta (still in pots), and new Edison patio clematis (blooming beautifully). My mom's seasonal schedule is: (and I'm following her code after numerous trials) Don't plant until May 1st and bring everything back in by Oct 1st. Soon, I'll be complaining about the heat and humidity......... Good Luck to all with hopefully our LAST cold snap.-Bonnie

26 predicted here tonight...and I live in the valley so will more than likely get frost.

I haven't *newly* planted anything, but what about all the perennials that are in bud....clematis, flowering almond, lilac, bleeding hearts....will they be OK or should I cover, and even if I cover, will it do any good??

Isn't the real question *the length of time* that the freezing temps prevail?

In response to ilexopaca's post - I think you underestimate the power of wind this time of year. True, on a cloudy night the lowest level of the atmosphere is somewhat insulated, keeping temperatures higher than what they would otherwise be. And, yes, a lack of wind at night allows cold air to sink and produce freezing temperatures at ground level. So a breeze does mix everything up and prevents a frost at ground level - but ONLY if the air isn't already freezing above ground.

However, these can be relatively weak forces when compared to other factors on the weather. Temperature extremes this time of year occur often when winds are stacked through the atmosphere and you get them all vertically lined up out in the same direction for thousands and thousands of feet up. For example, you get 25-30mph winds at ground level blowing out of the SW, it's probably going to be warm this time of year. Line those up with mid and upper level winds also blowing out of the southwest, and boom, we get a hot day. This occurs because air that originates in a much warmer climate, like Texas, or Arizona, is transported here very quickly, before much cooling is allowed to take place. This weekend, the same thing is happening, but with a cold air mass originating in Canada. Winds through the entire thickness of the atmosphere are going to be lined up, gusting right out of the north, moving with great efficiency a LOT of cold air into the Chicago area. Don't forget, if that wind has an air temperature of 30 degrees, and it's moving at 20mph, it's going to be 30 degrees everywhere, not just away from buildings, trees, etc.

Personally, I hope it doesn't freeze this weekend. I love temperatures in the 80's and nighttime lows in the 60's. But when the *average* last frost at Midway (a very urban location) is April 17, it most certainly is not impossible to get freezing temperatures here this time of year; clouds or not.

This time last year I was living in MN and no matter what happens here, we're still ahead of the game compared to there. I'm heading outside now to haul the annuals into the garage and I'll be reminding myself how much better Chicago weather is!

I'm in the west county of Saint Louis and indeed it's supposed to hit the freezing point or just a tad below tomorrow night, too.

I'm officially annoyed. My hostas are coming up like gangbusters. My climbing rose is showing leaf buds and my butterfly bushes look perfect.

If this stuff slimes, I'm going to be beyond annoyed.

I'm not taking any chances with anything that is in a container or not planted yet. And I'm going to Home Depot to get some plastic painting tarps for the bushes, hostas and am going to pray a lot.

And I don't give a damn what the neighbors might think. They already must think that we weird, so let's look weirder! LOL

They are still saying 33 is the low tonight and tomorrow is 29. I have most pots in the garage. Some hardier plants are near blooming bulbs, I covered some of the exposed beds with seed blankets. Others are under tables or up against buildings.

It's been raining all day with a decent amount of wind.

The apple blossoms are part open and the lilacs have fat buds. Hope they make it through ok!

I'm wouldn't worry so much about the perennials or roses. Plants are pretty resilient.

I'm not giving up without a fight. I'm not in the headspace to deal with having to start all over again. I've been 'starting over' for a year now. I plant like gangbusters, we move. We get here in hot weather like the seventh level of hell, too hot and too late to plant what I wanted to, then go to nasty cold and I've waited ALL winter for this.

I'm just not in the 'oh well, they'll come back" place.

Nothing personal, but I'm going to fight for this new growth.

If you cover with plastic, MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT TOUCH THE PLANTS. Don't mean to shout but plastic conducts the cold and your stuff will be hosed! :)

*saluting*

yah sir!

hehe Sorry, I just learned the hard way several years ago.

I took your advice about the plastic and got cloth painting tarps and made two tents for the hostas. Staked them all around to the ground with edging stakes, and propped them up with tall plastic stakes to keep it from touching the plants.

Butterfly plants covered with plastic buckets, held in place by metal stakes. Mulched the rose completely, covered with a towel AND a bucket with stakes. Containers in the garage.

Everything else is on it's own!

Btw, I wasn't being sarcastic with the salute. :)

Wow, way to be thorough! You feel a little crazy sometimes when you're the only one with "ghosts" in your yard (my yard is COVERED front and back w/ bedsheets right now LOL!) but in the morning when your stuff still looks foxy, it's worth it. ;) We'll see how we fared in the morning!

Hey guys,
It is saturday, 11:18 currently, I just walked the dog, It is pretty darn crisp outside but not as bad as I half expected...
It is very interesting to read your postings about the effect of the weather.

My clem is in bud and I'd be sorry to see them go, but I think it should be ok..
-smom, what do you mean with "if it slimes"?
Is that what happens to hostas that gets 'too' frozen or nipped?

Nan, of the plants you mentioned, I'd cover the bleeding heart with a bucket or such, or a large garbage bag over sticks rammed in the ground.
Clematis and lilac is supposedly unfazed by chill temps, as peonies, helleborus, tulips,daff's and many small springblooming bulbs should be.

Is tonight the last night of the predicted frost?

..Keep yer fingers crossed..
klk

Slime = Shorthand for a plant that has been frozen and ends up a blackened or pale gelatinous blob that has to be thrown out by a grumpy gardener. Hostas will go FLAT.They look like Wiley E Coyote post-anvil drop. Pale and slimey. Impatiens with their dark foilage curl up and are blackened slime.

However, it didn't happen. Either we didn't get to the freezing point last night or this stuff worked but everything looks good at first glance. I'll check it out again later this afternoon to see if I missed damage.

Leaving the plastic tenting sticks in place to use them again tonight if it's an issue again. It was a learning experience. Now I have a "kit" for frost! LOL

I don't think we had a freeze last night because everything still looks OK. Just got back from Lowes and the annuals and tomato plants really look bad. Even the ones in the green house look very wilty. It was interesting, though that they had the whole tier of pansies covered with fabric and those are ones that would have been just fine!

I was tempted last week to buy some flats of annuals to pot up on my deck planters. Glad I didn't jump the gun. My house is on the market and I want the deck to look inviting, but think I'll wait another few weeks.

hahaha, post anvil drop it is, I know exactly what you are talking about now ;-)
My plants look like they were unaffected, my hostas look great and the clem seems to have even put forth a inch in growth, I am not sure , it could be wishful thinking...
klk

They had our forecast down to 27F at one point last night, and we bottomed out at 33.8F out here in the suburbs. I'm so glad we dodged this one big time! We also didn't get a flake of snow these past two nights. That 65F tomorrow will come and save us! Nothing like the mid 80s just a few days ago though =/

The wind off the lake last night was fierce, loud and chilly (with whitecaps that stretched to the horizon), but I don't think those of us near the water got any colder than the mid to upper 30s--it was 37 when I last looked at 11 p.m. and about 40 when I woke up. I left most of my perennial seedlings out, but I took all the tender stuff in. Plus, because we didn't get three out of four of those warm days from last week, things like the crabapples and redbuds don't even have any blooms yet to frost off. Everything in my yard looks ok.

Not sure how cold it got here, but aside from some wind-flattened leaves and blooms, everything looks ok. Lilacs are getting ready to open, and I've been plucking out wayward morning glory sprouts.

I use weatherbug.com Whenever there's going to be a storm of any type, whether snow/rain, it beeps. Free of charge, too. Every so often they want me to fill out a 5 question survery but I skep it. For those who are like me, concerned about the weather, go to www.weatherbut.com It displays a 5 day forecast, too. You just enter your zipcode, and voila, instant weather..Plus, if you want to know the temps in another state/city, u enter their zip code and it switches over w/ther current weather. Then to go back to yours again just add your zip code and it takes you back.
I wanted to mention, if anyone wants to learn about Chicago gardening, tune in to WGN Radio..720 AM on the dial.
It comes on about 6 or 6:30PM every Sat night. You can even go to their website and check out old shows and what they talked discussed in previous shows. Every so often they have guests from either Garfield Pk or Oak Pk conservatory, and other gardening centers. Mike Novak/c is the host and the show is called Let's Talk Gardening. I luv it. Toni

AS I said, It is almost impossible to freeze, below 32 degrees this time of year with the wind blowing.

All my wintersown plants came through it all. I put them in a sheltered area and covered them with sheets and newspapers. I did bring the zinnia and morning glories into the garage; and put pots on the hostas and lettuce.

It got down to 27 Saturday night, but the worse was the hail that hit at 5:00 and was ankle deep! I'm in Indianapolis.

I finally took the advice of folks on the rose forums when they said, "Roses are not tomatos. They'll do just fine." and didn't protect any of them. I threw a blanket over the fence where my Sweet Autumn clematis grows, and a flocked vinyl tablecloth over the peonies (Lord knows why). The smaller, emerging perennials and the Endless Summer hydrangeas got overturned pots on top of them, and the wintersown stuff spent the night in the stairwell. ...I'm glad to say that everything was just fine. I pulled a very few crispy leaves off the roses, but they seem to be unharmed. The slow-to-wake, pickier-than-advertised ES hydrangeas actually seemed to like a night in a quasi-cloche, and leafed out all the way up two canes!

The forecast has nights in the 40s and 50s for the next ten days... after that there's just another 10 days to go, and the average nighttime low is 49-50, with no record lows of 32 or below after that (although it's gotten darn close and I believe all that stuff about late frosts and global warming, so I'm paranoid!) I'm knocking on wood while I say it, but I think we've escaped the worst.

Hail! Egads! Ankle deep hail no less! That'd have me keeping my starts under lights til June...