It looks like I'll be spending Saturday putting the last of the pots in the mini green house, and covering up the hose bibs. Ah, the last melancholy chores of the season. I wish it had gotten cold a little more gradually, but it does what it does.

I'm watching the forecast too - I lost a 5 yr old dicentra scandens given no additional protection last winter, a few other things. I replaced the dicentra (loved by hummingbirds) and would like not to lose it again.

Does anyone have any suggestions for melianthus - in the ground, not containerized. Mine were not killed outright but so damaged they made a very unimpressive showing this year...sent up shoots late that stayed quite small with little growth.

Have you noticed how confused many plants seem to be this fall? I see rhodies in bloom that have never bloomed at this time of year before. Some of my veggies that are still in the ground are thinking it's spring and starting to grow. I've even picked a few zuccinis in the last week. And, I'm still eating everbearing raspberries from the garden. This warm weather transitioning into a deep freeze quickly really kills a lot of plants. Let's hope it isn't too cold.

Dotty, I have two mock oranges in two different locations in the garden, both with a few flowers open. It certainly has been a strange year weather wise, I can't remember another one like it.
We had mixed snow and rain earlier today and the forecast is for the temps to go down in the basement in the next couple of days. Winter is arriving much too early for me.

Probably due to the coolness earlier in the year. Cold growing season followed by mild fall spell turning suddenly to cold would be a repeat of 1955. For some time this fall predictions have been made making comparisons to that and other bad years during a particular period (1949 etc.). However, some days ago the same date in 1955 saw 9 degrees F. (Seattle). So already we have not had it quite so bad (as I have heard it described the summer and fall that year were also more extreme).

Only 3 more months to go before we are past the season for Arctic weather here.

I remember walking to Kindergarten in 1949 in knee deep snow in Richmond Beach, just south of Edmonds, Wa.

The first time I saw clothes freeze dry on the clothesline was in the Fall of 1955. Remember clotheslines? We lived just north of Green Lake then before moving to north of Spokane. That's when I experienced real winters. I'll take west of the Cascades anytime over that.
I sure dated myself.
Mike

Thanks for the head's up on incoming weather patterns.

What's everyone's favorite method of plant protection? I bought some trees (okay, more like sticks) at a 75% off sale a week ago and they are just in pots at the moment. Was planning on burlap bags stuffed with leaves and hoping for the best, but would appreciate any gems of advice from those wiser in such ways than I.

Rain

If you have a mulch pile or an available area of well-drained soil plunge the pots into that. If none of them are types with frost-sensitive tops protecting the newer, outer roots near the container walls (but hopefully not plastered against them) is the first priority.

Most tender to most hardy:

New roots > old woody roots > tops.

Container plants not having their tops freeze back does not automatically indicate the whole specimen came through without damage.

Caring for Plant Material Prior to Planting
ô¾ Keep roots cool and moist.
ô¾ Heel in off-season material to prevent freeze damage.
ô¾ Harden off greenhouse material prior to planting.
ô¾ On site, protect plants from excess light and heat, desiccation, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Fact Sheet

20 is being shown for my town, right on the Sound Monday night so farther out it could be 10 and so on.

Maybe later this winter it will be 10 here. Or worse. A couple years ago they saw 6 in Stanwood, which has large areas of salt water to the north and south but is open to winds from the north.

Closer to the Fraser Gap it must have been even colder.

LOL!! Guess I better pick the last of the dahlias, which are still looking remarkably good. Same with autumn sage, one climbing rose (still pumping out blooms) and various hardy fuchsias.

Since I only recently moved, ALL my plants are in containers. I just group them all together as tightly as possible and store them in a protected location. I've done this with all my containers through winter over the years and so far, so good. Important to know whatever microclimates are available in your garden and take advantage of them.

Also on my list of getting ready for winter chores is to pick up a new outdoor thermometer. The one here is older than dirt and seems to be stuck somewhere around 28F. Know that can't be true, as I've not even had a real frost.....yet. I'm interested to see how my semi-protected seaside location will fare through this predicted cold snap.

Maybe you should leave it up in case it is a magical one that is keeping the temperature at 28 or above.

Was supposed to freeze around here last night but didn't, at least not at our place. I have a lot of planting to do, if the frigid weather did not happen at all that would be great.

I was thinking of the forecast for tonight, tonight is when it is supposed to be 30 here, not last night.

Still seeing 20 shown for Monday. 2 days of hard frost and snow, then partial clearing and less cold - but still cold.

20s is root-killing temperatures for many kinds of unprotected potted stock. A large independent garden center is now displaying their broad-leaved evergreen shrub section in a greenhouse.

I might be displaying some of mine under a pile of leaves if I can't get the plastic on the greenhouse in the next 30 hours or so.

I have a question that I haven't been able to find the answer to. I think my planted fig trees will survive the cold snap, but one has a small crop of fruit. If I cover it well, can the fruit survive to grow in spring? Or is it just too late for the fruit to continue growth?

Thx

Not usual for those present now to ripen in this climate.

Sunday, 10am update from Indianola......snowing lightly at the moment but it doesn't appear to be cold enough for any serious sticking, at least along the beach. Still waiting for my first frost......:-)

Going to put another log on the fire, tho!

About 2-3" so far in Lake Tapps, and still snowing. Should help protect all the foolish plants that are having trouble figuring out what season it is.

It's been snowing hard here on the central coast for about an hour - and it is sticking.

I have armloads of fir and cedar boughs cut earlier this morning (nothing like leaving things to the last minute) to lay over dahlias, others, planted in the ground. The snow may be providing the blanket I was looking for :) I'll still put the evergreen branches out, if it would just let up so I don't have to put on ski gear to do it.

The clams on this evenings tide will be safe from at least the two of us anyway :)

10 is when it started here also, on the other side of the Sound. I just realized the earlier small accumulation had disappeared, as I looked out the window at renewed vigorous snowfall.

It's snowing steadily here. I have to go pick my son up at the airport. Not looking forward to it. His car is at his father's house on a steep hill. They're talking about the teens tonight. I wonder if a second heat lamp would keep my mini greenhouse above freezing or should I break down and get a small space heater?

Now below 20 is being shown for Tues. in my area. If this does turn out to be a "vicious" winter I suppose we may see multiple waves of Arctic cold, with at least one period of much lower temperatures than we are having now.

Ugh!!! I still have not finished planting my tulips. BOHOOOO!
I'm crying my eyes out right now with this blasted weather. I have about a 100 bulbs to go.
Hopefully next weekend will be better. :(

100 tulip bulbs on the wall, 100 tulip bulbs. Take one down and put in the ground - 99 tulip bulbs on the wall.

20s is starting to look warm..........compared to some predictions.
This is when I give up.
First time in 20 years that we've had a November day stay under freezing for the whole day.
Not enough snow where I am to provide much insulation either.

I feel like a complete failure with my garden this autumn.

- My tulips are not in the ground yet.
- Fall cleaning is half done.
- Need to mulch my flower beds.
- My Bearded Iris never got planted, etc etc...

Blast my work schedule and traveling. :(

Good news, next week temps are supposed to be in the Mid-40's. Not too keen on going outside and planting tulips while there is snow on the ground.
My neighbors will mark me as certifiable. :)

We're all the way up to 28F here this afternoon - I keep hoping I'm going to hear something different than the lows they are predicting for tonight. We do have snow cover though.

And I have 3 hummingbirds in the back yard again today, put a feeder out at 6 AM to give them some warming calories...they seem fine, full of energy.

10 degrees Tuesday morning in Woodinville. Added an extra layer of leaves over some tender things. Helps that the ground isn't frozen hard and now has 2" of insulating dry snow.

Maybe it will kill off the slugs :)

We're feeding a few hummingbirds too, it's freezing here and we have to keep rotating the feeders as they freeze up. We added a bit more sugar to the mix to see if that will stop them from freezing up so fast. We need to come up with a simple hummingbird feeder heater, any ideas out there?

Although the Anna hummingbird have been in parts of our city for quite a few years they've only been in our area the last 3 years. Our handy dandy weatherman says it's going to hit around 15*F tonight.

Christmas lights generate heat. Surround your hummingbird feeder with Christmas lights.

Just make sure you get the the "old fashioned" lights, not the new LED type.

I went out on foot to get the mail. The cold felt very sharp this time. If Woodinville already hit 10, surely it will be in the singles tonight out there. This is why rhododendrons hardy to 5 or 10 were "tender" and beyond the reach of those not right on the Sound, back when I belonged to the local rhododendron society.

And why I repeatedly point out that evergreen clematis, Mexican orange, most evergreen ceanothus and the like are also to be used with their similar comparative tenderness in mind. Plants that go back or crap out at 10-15 degrees are not perfectly hardy here.

The local native rhododendron is rated hardy to -5.

Hallerlake, Luctretia, thanks for the light suggestion, I have some outdoor lights packed away (somewhere ?) we've never used, I'll have to go root around and see if I can lay my hands on them.

Annette

Four inches of snow here with the temp at 13F at 6:30pm or so.
I'm a bit colder here near Maple Valley in the winter than areas by the salt water. The upside is that it's warmer in the summer.
Mike

Midnight, my feeder is the disc/saucer style with 6 ports, only about an inch deep. I expected it to turn into a snow cone by mid morning, 24F when I took it outside this morning. We topped out at 29F this afternoon and the solution never did freeze....and I kept checking.

I did a quick search online last night and found the suggestion to up the sugar to water ratio for a winter emergency, mixed it 1 part sugar to barely 3 parts water instead of full 4.

I brought it in again after dinner and will hang it before daylight tomorrow.

At least it's taking my mind off plants that are likely being damaged :)

1/2 mile from the sound at 400 feet it was 15 around 10 PM, but up to 18 this AM.

For the saucer Hummer feeders, you can tape some bubble wrap to the bottom, keeping one edge untaped and slip a 6 hour handwarmer into the pocket.

I'm thinking of festooning the chicken coop with Christmas lights to keep it warmer. The water keeps freezing.

Power finally back on after almost 48 hours without. Being in a more rural environment (Kitsap County) after a lifetime in the Seattle area is a BIG adjustment. The power goes out here at the drop of a hat anyway but this is the longest it's been off since I relocated. And there are still many areas without. Yesterday heard news reports about many area gas stations out of gas as the trucks couldn't get there to refill and most stations were without power anyway. Tough for those folks who rely on generators for heat and didn't get them refilled in time. Glad I have a wood stove :-) Roads have been awful and my own street is still pretty much impassable. Thankfully I got out on Monday to run some errands and stock up on groceries, but it was an all-day project. Took me nearly 1 1/2 hours to make what is typically a 15 minute trip but I managed to get home before dark and the worst of the storm.

Haven't gotten that replacement thermometer yet but the old one does move.....showing at 20F now and was a LOT colder earlier this morning, but I'm guessing the thing is not very accurately calibrated. I'll be very glad when it warms up to the low 40's predicted for tomorrow afternoon and rain. If we think it's cold here, I heard on the radio it was -17 in Moses Lake this am........now THAT'S cold!!

Congratulation on getting your power back!

10.6 Deg F here in Marysville Tuesday morning, 10.2 F this morning.

>almost 48 hours withoutEeeeek! (We have no backup system here, can't talk the other into even using the fireplaces).

A couple years ago part of Camano went without for 2 weeks. This morning adversities on Vashon (and Kitsap Co.) are the focus of news coverage.

No power kind of makes you appreciate the little things, doesn't it...like heat, hot water, hot food, lights. It's surprising how comforting something like a battery operated radio can be.

Dec 2007 we went three days, as did the entire community and most of them more - we happen to be on the same power grid as our hospital and that got primary attention. It wasn't particularly cold or we couldn't have been here - don't have a wood stove any longer and the tree on this house that storm took the chimney anyway. We merged assets with the neighbors and got by - wood stove next door for real warmth, gas grills, lanterns, radios, shared a small generator for chilling down refrigerators and charging cell phones. Another neighbor is an avid camper, he became quite popular with all the' roughing it' gear he had on hand :)

Gardengal, I'm glad you're going to comfortable again in time for the holiday! I cannot imagine my house without heat this week.
It's 28F here again just now, but fell short of the 35F they said we would reach. I keep waiting for that warm up, hoping the moisture doesn't get here while the cold air is still in place.

LOL!! I was a bit premature in posting that.......yes, power came back on but then went out again an hour later. Dang!! Eventually heard the sound of a large truck nearby and when investigating, discovered the PSE crew at the start of my drive, doing their good work. Apparently in a sudden and massive outage such as all of Kitsap County experienced, reconnecting the power in one area can lead to overloads down the line (too much demand from electrical stuff left on and then suddenly reconnected), which blow out the lines again. I was told that once they finished replacing the lines, I could look forward to the power coming back, so about 3 hours later back it comes. And this time, so far so good - still here!!

Mor, thankfully I have a very efficient wood stove and plenty of firewood, so I was pretty toasty and could boil water for coffee and heat up soup, etc. But the wood stove is not a suitable appliance for cooking a turkey so glad to have the 'mod cons' back functioning in time to cook dinner today. And yes, my cell phone ran out its charge so was feeling pretty isolated for awhile, especially since the roads prevented travel easily or safely.

It is MUCH warmer this morning :-) Dog and cat didn't balk at going out for their morning ablutions and didn't race to come back in immediately. So far the snow they report falling in Seattle this am has not shown up here. I am actually looking forward to rain.........

If this is just the start of what we can expect this winter, I'm going to ask Santa for a portable generator. And stock up on library books and candles :-) And yes, the radio was a lifeline to the rest of world, so I'm stocking up on batteries too.

It's above freezing! 33 degrees! Whoo hoo!

Still below freezing and snowing here in the Fraser Valley. About 12-15 cms (5 or 6 inches) thus far. Temperature is -1 C or 30 F. Possibility of freezing rain this evening, especially further east in the valley where the pockets of cold air tends to remain longer.

Bob

Gardengal, our power used to go out all the time in Olympia too - usually 5 - 6 times per year at least. It was out for nine days in the December 1996 ice storm. It has never gone out for us in Sequim yet after 2 1/2 years, I guess since we are pretty close into town with not many trees around.

LOL! Ian, I've been here only about 2 and half months and so far the power has gone out 4 times, although most outages were for just a few hours. 9 days might push me over the edge as 2 was quite bad enough, thank you very much!! I am somewhat surprised at how widespread this issue was -- according to the PSE guy, pretty much the entire county was wiped out and that covers a lot of territory. I intend to be better prepared for the next outage, which I'm sure will be inevitable, given the winter predictions.

It rained very heavily last night and all traces of the snow and ice are now gone. Risked leaving the hummingbird feeder out and it is fine, so temps are pretty balmy at the moment compared to just a couple of days ago. Gonna check on all my containers today but I'm hoping they came through without too many problems. I stored them underneath a covered area right next to the house that was out of both the snow and wind.......as close as I could come to providing cold protection. Most are pretty good sized, 5G or larger, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I haven't been out yet. I'm still digesting dinner. I can see some things through the window. I see a few plants, like the vaccinium glauco-album, are brown above the snow line, and green below. Snow remains a constant 32 degrees. They'll do just fine. It looks like my 'Greenspire' Euonymus has come through better this year. Maybe the roots have finally established themselves. I need to get out and take the umbrella cloches off things until the next time it goes into the teens. I've got a gleam of sun!

My thermometer by the greenhouse says it got down to 8 degrees. I'll have to wait and see how my Rhododendron Macabeanum did. It's only supposed to be hardy to 10 degrees. It's too bad I had to dig up that corner of the garden after a car ran through it. I'd worry less if it hadn't been disturbed last summer. It's heavily mulched with leaves from the big leaf maple overhead. Maybe the roots will come through.

I've had that vaccinium outdoors for years, if I remember right they were growing it many years ago at Bovees nursery near Portland - where it would be expected to get colder than around Seattle. However, I did just have a potted one gallon plant go partly brown in the garage.

Have not looked at the one outside.

The euonymus is a USNA selection, should be much hardier than needed here. The species does tend to like a hot location, it seems the wrong situation can result in an immature condition late in the year. Also a planting site overhung by trees that appear to encourage weevil activity, like evergreen conifers or birch trees, would be expected to produce much damage on an evergreen euonymus. Around here you really have to watch the proximity of such trees to these and other particularly susceptible kinds like rhododendrons when planting them out. (Yesterday I looked more closely and saw the extent of notching of the leaves of a fairly big hybrid rhododendron planted several years ago some yards in front of a stand of small Douglas firs etc. The nearest live, nearly overhead branches or something like 30' away).

Some mildewing of the Japanese species is also fairly prevalent here, elsewhere they may see a lot of this (as well as heavy, spoiling infestations of euonymus scale).

When woodland gardening the best plan can be large openings cut out of the existing stand of trees, with minimal intermingling of these and the new plantings. This approach can be seen at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden.

You want belts of trees around the edge that are thick enough to cut the wind and tall enough to cast shadows over the plantings in July, but not necessarily have any of them inside the planted part.

High-branching crowns, with nothing between them and the plantings present the problem of pelting fog and rain drip. Perhaps the worst example I've seen was poppyworts almost melting beneath the liquid hail from a Douglas fir.

Still being offered by them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bovees Companion Plants

Just got back Monday night from holiday travel (lucky things thawed by Thursday) and am mentally revisiting the storm. Our power was out for two days and that was some scary driving. It's clear that my household needs better preparation, especially since winter has just begun.
Cheers gardengal, I'm in Kitsap too. :)