We have the next three nights with those low and lower temps too...I have to drag in all my pots into the garage...ugh...my poor back.. I have my hosta bedding at the ready for the ones in the ground...although that didn't stop Mr. FRost from biting at some leaves of a handful of hostas. :(

I like my hostas "pretty" for the rest of the summer so I'll do what I can to minimize the effects of frost here. And here I thought we might somehow miraculously miss that --- silly me!!! LOL

Jo, I like them pretty too, so I may have to go buy some frost blankets at Menards today. I really don't want them to suffer. I'm so mad that we are having these temps in the middle of May! We should be basking in the May sun right now and enjoying our plants!

We had frost warning last night. I'm exhausted. Every bucket, every tarp/blanket and every large box we
own is out there covering up hosta and I still only covered about half. The hosta I potted for the plant sale were either brought inside or grouped with some other hosta under a blanket. My DH put my hosta in fancy pots in the bed of his pickup in the garage. The other half had to fend for themselves. Hopefully they grow new leaves to cover the damage.

Temps will get as low as 36F (2C) that feel like 28F (-2C).

==>> if its any consolation ... plants dont FEEL ... its actual temp only ...

and.. just for the record... under 32 is a freeze ... many of our southern friends dont understand the difference in the words ...

when a leaf cell freezes ... the cell walls explode ... or fail ... in very light circs.. you might see brown spots a few weeks later ...

when its bad ... of course .. the whole leaf collapses ... and we all start wailing ...

just some info ... since the more you know... the better you can reason out your responses ...

you know.. i really didnt care.. before i started typing this.. now i am bummed ... sheesh ..

ken

mk, I hope for your sake and mine (seeing we must be close neighbors) we don't get the frost. I just put out 25 hostas in my new bed and most of my pots are sunk in the ground so I won't be moving them. I may try to cover a few of the more favorite ones but to many and to spread around to cover very many of them.

Actually I have a feeling this is not going to be one of my better years for the hostas. I already have several with some cold damage and half leaves from the rabbits nibbling the pips off. I know most will out grow this and new leaves will help but never be quite prime.

I also just yesterday planted 8, 48 count flats of annuals, knowing I was pushing the limits on the weather.

old_dirt, that's what I'm hoping too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for both of us that maybe it will just be cold and no frost. It doesn't say on Weather Network that it will be frost, but with these temps you never know. I still have couple of annuals flats in my little greenhouse that I started from seed, so I'm going to be taking them inside, just in case. I was going to plant them last weekend, but for some reason didn't. I'm glad I didn't.

We are expecting frost tonight too, I have covered everything, pots grouped closely together and tented sheets over them, dustbin over S&S and coats on my Gunnera. I have even used my bedroom curtains and my bathrobe to cover some when I ran out of big pots, my hobo shelter is packed full again.

It is currently(2.40 am) 4.5C and dropping I am fairly relaxed about it, I only resorted to bringing in nigrescens as it is a bit too tall to fit under one of the tents.

Good luck everyone and may this be the last one.

I am a big advocate for thrift store sheets. Every time I am in the thrift store I buy a few more $3 sheets for those unexpected frosts, covering mulch in the truck, raking leaves on, making a play tent over the clothesline for grand girls....

Denis, Lol when I got to the curtains n bathrobe! My sheets are outside, Sagae was triple tucked in, swing canvas under the tree covering pots, some good canvass covering other pots on the stair landing, box over Marrakech, pail over Cold Heart and Guacamole...many left uncovered :(

The fact that it also rained, and that it is windy will help some. Even colder tomorrow night...then back to double digits next week. :)

here are some that are covered up for the night...

Jo, those are tender young beauties! Good luck to all of you!

I wish you all the best for keeping your hostababies safe from frost harm. We're in for some stormy weather tonight, according to the weather wallas, but nothing like frost. We were forecast for T-storms which never materialized, so now it's just bits of rain and some wind.

Old Dirt: http://www.lowes.com/pd_109435-16878-61909_0_?productId=3556926

Here's an augur you can attach to a drill to dig planting holes. Perhaps it would help your back. I have FAR less garden to plant than you do, so I use a bulb planter to quickly and easily dig holes to plant annuals.

Frost warning here too. Moved all the pots into the shed, and when space ran out, the garage. The dipladenia and gardenia are in the kitchen. I used every empty pot I had to cover those in the garden but of course I can't use them on the really big Hostas. We will monitor the wind and temperature overnight. If I have to I will get up at 4 am and hose them all down. I really hope spring shows up soon! Wishing you all all cloudy skies and above freezing temps.

Frost for us last night and tonight.

My efforts to afford them some protection.

Oh man, so many of us under threat! Thankfully, for me, when I woke up all hostas are standing and I don't think we had frost, or if we did, it may have been weak. It is cold as heck outside but no sign of damage. On my facebook feed, there are a lot of peeps with total destruction :( I am so sad for them. Please update us on what your beds look like this morning.

Mk, Barb and anyone else in frost's way, let's hope clear sailing ahead. Last year it was May 23rd when a hard frost hit.

Kathy, bless you, chuck the flannel for the season, lol - days ago I wanted the A/C on! Lol

Just commented on Barb's thread. This happened in the last hour! Grrrrr! Wendy

I was just thinking that it was 77 f. earlier in the week and now I am watching it snow outside my window!

I don't think there is much if any frost damage here. I did notice some slight curling of a few leaves, could that be cold/frost related? As stated above, time will tell I guess. We also have had some spits of snow here today but nothing that settled or stayed.

Well last night was not too bad, my protection seems to have worked, no immediate signs of damage thankfully.

I was out at 06.30 as the temps were gradually starting to rise.

The bedroom curtains

Big Daddy is under there.

S&S in the bin!

My Gunnera saved from crispy brown edges.

Its cold again tonight and all are covered again, we will be back to mild wet windy atlantic mucky weather on tuesday, the heatwave is over. That may sound strange after nights like this but we have been 4 degrees above normal average in daytime temps, had up to 25C which is very unusual for May here, I even got a little bit of a farmers tan.

My Rhodie is starting to flower, it seems to laugh at frost.

Denis, that is one magnificent rhododendron! Very pretty flower colour too. Your hostas sure got the TLC treatment. I can't wait to uncover them tomorrow to get some sunshine.

Received frost warning on my smart phone and decided to just wing it because it appears that it will be warm enough. I check the plants recently and they were ok.

Frost is no laughing matter, but I had to laugh when I saw Denis' bedroom curtains and bathrobe thrown out into the yard, LOLOL! That's true dedication!

Late frosts are a pain. Good luck to everyone!

Just got in from covering hostas again. I didn't think it was supposed to be as cold tonight but when it hit 36 I panicked. Nothing like covering plants by moonlight at midnight. I may have done more damage stepping on the ones I couldn't see in the dark!

I wish I'd done what you did, Barb! I covered on Saturday night, and could have easily covered last night since all the blankets were upstairs anyway. The last thing I did before bed was check our forecast and several areas close by that tend to be colder than we are. No frost warnings. Let the dog out this morning and was greeted with a yard full of frost. I have definite damage to a lot of hostas in my backyard, but can't tell if those in front are damaged or not yet.

Saturday night when they predicted frost, we didn't get any, but did get snow. (The hostas I couldn't cover - not enough blankets - were fine though.)

Just uncovered mine after leaving them on for two nights... sunny out, all is well with those that were covered and those that were not are just fine.

I suppose I could have chanced it but I slept better because I did fuss, lol.

Cold again tonight but not covering up anymore - more rain expected and that definitely helps keep the humidity around the plants.

Barb, fingers crossed you didn't step on any!

Ruth, also fingers crossed that your gorgeous Liberty-highlighted front walkway didn't suffer any frost damage.

I was very lucky both nights and hostas are fine. My only casualty is a sweet potato vine in one of my pots.

mk I am so glad you were OK, Sympathy to those who were not.

mountainy man - Love seeing your rock swirls. I remember them from last year. Hope you will keep us updated

Last night was a wee bit colder than the night before but all seems well. Rain coming later tonight so am in the clear.

I will do Peren.all.