Just my coleus, but then that's not unexpected :-) This is my first winter in my new location so it is interesting to see the difference here compared to at the beach. It would seem that the surrounding forest areas offers some degree of cold protection as I haven't even witnessed any clear signs of frost, which was very obvious at the beach property, which was wide open and very exposed.

I still have hardy fuchsias in bloom and a single flower remaining on my Schizostylis. And remarkably, my cuphea 'Vermillionaire' seems to be unfazed with any cold and is still going strong!! What's up with that??

btw, my hydrangea starts - thanks again for those - still have their leaves!

Most potted stuff that hadn't rooted into the ground went into the garage. With a small amount of things that probably will take the 20s being put against outside garage wall.

I shelter most potted stuff I happen to still have on hand when cold comes because of the ~20 degree hardiness differential between plants in pots and those same kinds established in the ground.

Speaking of plants established in the ground I noticed fuchsia leaves and flowers were history yesterday so it had already gotten cold enough here for that. But it's the teens that cuts into marginal stuff (unless something is really not hardy at all) and single digits (and below) that makes one a killer winter. The last time we had one of those was in 1990.

Well, I had to go out and check on things because it really doesn't seem overly cold to me here on BI. An outdoor thermometer is on my Christmas list :-)) Being only a block up from the Sound and the garden surrounded by native conifers, this really DOES seem to be a zone 9 microclimate. No sign of frost overnight at all and the garden is trucking along as usual. Foliage still looking decent - not great - on Impatiens omeiana, farfugium (leopard plant) looking good, still have a few flowers left on the snapdragons (which overwinter handily here). Coprosma looks fine and hardy fuchsias still look untouched - flowering and with no loss of leaves. Even my less hardy fuchsia 'Autumnale' in a hanging basket is looking OK. As are all the hydrangeas. But apparently last night got a little too chilly for the cuphea (finally) and it is looking limp and shriveled. But it was in a rather exposed section of the garden to entice the hummers.

btw, the vast majority of my plants are in containers, including a lot of zone 8 marginals. I only finished bringing in all my succulents and cacti last week!!

Earlier the N.P.R. station was claiming as low as 20 for tonight.

----

Indicator Plant Examples

Zone 9
20 to 30 F
-6.6 to -1.1 C

Asparagus setaceus (asparagus-fern)
Bauhinia variegata (orchidtree)
Casuarina equisetifolia (Australian pine - zone 9b)
Corymbia citriodora (lemon-scented gum)
Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum)
Fremontodendron mexicanum (flannel bush)
Fuchsia hybrids (fuchsia)
Grevillea robusta (silky-oak)
Schinus molle (California pepper-tree)
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Chinese hibiscus)
Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian pepper-tree)
Syzygium paniculatum (Australian brush-cherry)

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hrdzon4.html

It's 28F here on the island now (8 pm) but the local forecast predicts the temps increasing gradually through the night (30 at 9 pm, 32 by midnight and 33 by 8 am.)

Sure was a gorgeous day - crisp and clear and wonderfully bright and sunny.

Tonight got really cold in Cottage Lake area. We went to high teens while plants under plastic are cozy at about 30-31. Garage went down to about 36 so still safe for all my rarer Begonias and other precious plants. I'm glad this is the last really cold night for now.

Snowing here.

Tonight got really cold in Cottage Lake area

Low lying or flat East-side sites can be quite frosty. Even fairly close in. Whereas a hillside site way out near Kent supported a collection of broad-leaved evergreen trees including eucalypts, cut leaf tan oak, Fresno myrtle as well as Chilean fire tree and a cactus garden for many years - lows there were basically the same as for many locations inside Seattle.

Just took a stroll around my yard. Large potted Camellias tucked under cedars still look great. I can tell that a proximity of large evergreen trees makes a huge difference in temperatures. Species Rhododendrons all have curled up leaves as I expected. They will recover just fine as soon as temperatures go up. Four inch pots are pretty much all frozen but most of them are hardy to at least zone 6 so I am hopeful. Some evergreen Epimediums didn't even notice all that freeze and still have fabulous foliage. Edgeworthia still has its buds intact. Hardy Cyclamens look sad now with their limp leaves but I know they will be just fine. I am looking forward to thawing out so I can plant some bulbs and divide some plants.

Thanks enith, now I know that the big leaf rhodie should be ok, the leaves look like the droopy ears on a bloodhound!

Ophoenix, I know, they look so sad! It's a mechanism that protects them from damage in subfreezing temperatures. The larger the leaf surface the bigger chances of winter desiccation (damage associated with low temperatures, low moisture and high winds). I would plant my big leaf Rhododendron in a sheltered area just for the purpose of winter protection if living in the area subjected to serious freeze. Which species do you have?

I am not sure - bought a couple from Beth Orling, Chimacum Woods nursery. They are both planted under the firs in a part of the garden that is under the firs. We are in Shoreline but only about 2-3 miles in from the sound - and we are cooler in the summer and a bit warmer in the winter - protected from the wind by the tallest hills in the Highlands.

Overwintering success of container stock is best determined by examination of the roots. The first part of a potted plant that dies due to cold exposure is the newest roots on the outside edge of the root system. The plant top is the last part to show cold effects. Because of this frozen camellias for instance may even get to the point of flowering the following spring - and then suddenly go dull looking, drop everything to show that they have actually been effectively dead for some time.

One early morning a few days ago it was 19F. here.

A groundcover in a pot a friend gave me survived last winter just fine so I planted it in a new area I'm doing. This winter it took a hard hit. I'm sure I'm the only one here that doesn't know the name of it. I just have to get out more often! I took the picture today. Some snow still here on the 19th.

Hard to tell in its current condition.

The leaves are grey when growing.

Mike, I think your little plant might be a Helichrysum. There are many different cultivars and are common in Mediterranean gardens, zone 9-11. Looks like this one is a bit out of its zone but may very well recover just fine in the spring.

Zone 9 means that's one of the reasons I'm not familiar with it. It was given to me in a pot with some other plants and made it through last year's winter just fine so I thought it might have a chance this year. That cold spell we just had took care of that. I'll let it stay and hope it recovers in the Spring. Long term I don't think it's going to be a permanent part of the garden here up in the hills.

Thank you, ophoenix

Any new damage from our recent cold spell? I likely lost a ceanothus, my Yuzu has some cold damage but is likely to survive (it's blanketed and covered in incandescent Christmas lights), and a fuchsia I was going to replace in the spring anyway is dead at a minimum to the branches, maybe the roots or worse. My zone 8 Camellia (Nuccio's Bella Rossa Variegated) is soldiering on undaunted, although we'll see how the flower buds made out when they open.

I'm shocked that my potted bay laurel and rosemary aren't visibly damaged or dead, given that they are up on my roof and exposed to the worst of this weather.

Nothing obvious yet but I haven't been in my yard for last two days. And as Embothrium said earlier some damages are hard to see right away. So I guess I will have to wait and see. The lowest temperature I've seen so far was around 17F so quite higher than the predicted 10-12. I'm looking forward to warming up.

The leaves finally fell off my hydrangeas (except for the oakleaf), so it did get a bit nippier in the past week or so. But still not seriously cold here on Bainbridge - the coldest it registered at my place (one long block from the Sound) was 26F.

21F this morning here. Never got above freezing yesterday, but 34F now. I can't wait for warmer weather so I can plant trees easier. Shoveling broken pieces of frozen ground makes more work out of it.

I still have about 1/2 inch of snow in the back yard in the open areas. So far the grevillea victoriae looks ok - at least from the top of the deck. I will take a photo tomorrow. It is a little over 6x5 ft and was loaded with almost open orange blossoms. What a sad story if it is damaged for me and for all the hummers that live by. The areas under the trees are free of snow, but not sure if it melted or was kept from the ground by the tree cover. I will try to get a photo inventory tomorrow of the garden.

My next door neighbor reported that a full grown buck, antlers and all - had come up the Boeing Ravine using her unfenced yard and was between the houses munching on the green pieris japonica and salal between our house - a rather narrow space - not more than 15 - 20 feet or so. In the 25 years that she has lived here - Shoreline - this is the first time a deer has come up the ravine, this close to her house. We are protected by a 5ft chain link fence.

I used to be familiar with that ravine. I lost a wallet by that little lake. Lost Lake? I had to drive all the way from Bellingham to retrieve it.

Here's a picture of that Helichrysum when it was looking good last Nov.

I was hoping I could use it. Not so sure now. I like my plants to be dependable for the most part, especially groundcovers.

Pic did not come thru - can you please resend?

oops refreshed the browser and got it/

Two days ago three huge bucks came and rested in my backyard in sunshine. Many many deer visit me and rest right there. Six came through just this morning.

My smaller pots are all frozen solid and will stay that way until serious warm up and some rain. Camellias in large pots I put under conifers are still looking great foliage and flowers but who knows what is happening with their roots. Same with Magnolia figo. Looks good but only time will tell if roots got damaged. Mahonias in large pots look perfectly normal. Begonias in my garage all wilted two nights ago which makes me think temperatures did dip below freezing at some point and nipped that foliage. I hope the rhizomes are fine. These are some expensive Begonias!

The Mediterranean zone is very small - around 2% of the total surface of the earth. The Marine zone expands it quite a bit but also makes growing many Mediterranean plants here in our Marine climate very chancy - but exciting when it is successful. The only way I could grow hydrangeas in my true Mediterranean garden in Northern CA was to grow them in a constantly wet bog. Ferns were hopeless and hostas only a dream. From my experience with Med. plants - their success depends more on moisture (too much or too little) than temperature. There is a great spot for Cistus In the back of the parking structure at the UW Medical Hospital Clinic. The plants are located next to a white wall, probably ignored all year and facing south-west in full afternoon sun. LOL The potted rosemary on my deck is still green and healthy - but pretty dry. Let the rosemary have wet feet and it will croak while you are watching. A phlomis russeliana jerusalem sage that we brought from the old garden in CA, is planted at the edge of a rockery facing south west and ignored most of the summer was looking really good the last time I looked.

It's remarkable what a few more degrees of warmth will do!! This morning, all my rhodies are looking much perkier than they were yesterday. In fact, everything looks a bit recharged ;-) And I think everything will be happier with a bit of rainfall that is expected this coming week - December was unusually dry.

It's also remarkable that the one deer was eating a Pieris, as these are quite poisonous. One of the reasons their relations rhododendrons are prevalent on country places in New Zealand is these are something sheep won't touch. And you supposedly can't drink the water out of mountain streams on Yakushima Island (home of Rhododendron yakushimanum) because these are lined with Pieris.

I am sure you are correct! My neighbor does not know one plant from the other - so I presume her comment was based on one of the few plant names she knows! lol She came over one day and insisted that I could change the color of my hydrangeas by sticking a nail in the ground next to them. I tried to explain that this does not work and she just got really angry with me. Can't win them all.

We had another cold day here in Cottage Lake (high teens). All pots are still frozen solid. I walked around my yard today and noticed huge fat buds on all my big leaf Hydrangeas. Camellias are still keeping their buds but open flowers on 'Yuletide' turned brown. To my huge surprise I found buds on my potted Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' untouched. I was sure they would get blasted in this prolonged freeze. Galanthus is slowly emerging. I'm so done with this freeze.

About a year divided and moved a truckload of plants from our former Woodinville house to a new location just south of Seatac. Wow almost a half zone warmer here and 20+% less rain. Forest/Meadow Edge habitat changed to Meadow Edge/Prairie like habitat. More clay/loam/sand soil here rather than prior thin forest underlayed by old Puget Sound bottom sand. However, I do miss finding those intact sand dollars and clam shells!

First thing dug a fish pond and staged plants around it. 15'x8.5'x3'. Honored Woodinville with a double wine barrel falls. Fish doing Great! Working to scare away a pesky raccoon. She's been messing with my Lotus side pond.

Cedar Grove Compost has been my saviour in both yards. I did it a half dozen bags at a time over years in Woodinville. In new yard all at once via truckload(s). On my 2nd load of 20 cu yds now (btw 20 cu yards = 495 bags)! Below is what it looks like getting a delivery. Used an 80' tarp below and on top the pile to protect from rain.

I've been installing root pits scaled to support adult plants to support especially hydrangea and other moisture requiring plants. Oh yes, True Temper's iron digging rod and home made rock screening saved me out here. Other methods don't work. Slow but effective.

Hydrangea and Honeysuckle plant footings for one side of Gazebo.

Hard to beat Canna 'Tropicanna' = Durban = Phason for a little drama. This was in a one gallon pot when I got it early that summer.

A 4" pot start of hardy Basjoo banana made it to 4' in one summer/fall with offsets to make a little grove this next summer. A drama banana needs a drama backdrop. The Golden Vivax Bamboo 15'×5'x2' barrier zone with 3 clump starts now needs to catch up.

We have 9 kinds of Bamboo pits, mostly timber types.

As a pond backdrop a baby 5' Chilean Gunnera has been planted in an 8'x8'x4.5' bottom/side lined bog pit. The huge pit was installed for water supply. I left a ~12'x12' growing space for the current Gunnera-ette at 5' now.

But GeeZ that big Gunnera that went down this winter at Pt Defiance Park's Japanese greeting house area, has me worried. G. tinctoria's smaller footprint and more angular dramatic leaf shape compated to G. manicata lured me in. However, I now fear I may need a bigger machete to keep her in bounds. Cedar Grove at 50% v/v may be my down fall this time.

We have almost 80 different kinds of hydrangea including a huge aspera 'Sargentianum', Edgeworthia and many unique things to make a nice effect. All things were sorted for our micro light climates. 2 to 3' deep water supplies with those pits is extending where hydrangea can do well. Amazingly was able to plant them all through summer last year and not have them suffer from heat due to those pits.

My wife's goal is a largely grass free yard, which works well with my plant lust. Also explains why I like taller plants.

Don't be fooled the photo above was all staged as tub planter tests to pre-test light conditions and play with visual arrangements.

As for freezing yard and plants ... glad it's almost over, so we can get back to garden installing. Want to see if some of the new warm color Echinacea and new Red Hot Pokers survive our wet cool winters here.