Nineteen degrees right now and a little ice/snow. Is this really Florida? I guess this is the snow we get about every ten years.

Wow, Pam....you actually got snow?? Ice all over here...my jeep is covered. Schools are closed with some counties closing again tomorrow. The Hathaway Bridge has been closed all day. Hard freeze tonight from 9pm until 9am tomorrow. BAH HUMBUG

It's mostly ice with maybe a little snow on top. It's hard and wet. Lots of things closed here too. The bridges are iced up and with no salt to put on them they closed them. My greenhouse is OK as long as I don't run out of propane. I should have enough for the night but might have to go out tomorrow for more. BAH HUMBUG for sure.

My GH is a death house. The cover has LOTS of holes so the heaters have not been able to keep up...with no help not much I can do about it except and hope ALL is not lost

OH no! That is terrible. Hope you don't lose everything. I know you love your plants like I do. Wish we were closer.

gin, how about a cheap tarp from Wal-Mart or somewhere? You can get a good sized one for about $5.

I'm sure it's cold out now, but tonight may be a lot worse.

Actually I do have tarps and a partial roll of heavy duty plastic that's 20' wide (my GH is 12x20), but without help I don't think I can get it up and over the top

Wow Pam and Ginger,

Yikes,Eeeeek,Wow!

The pictures are inclusively;.... amazing, beautiful, sad, sadly beautiful to a Florida gardener, and have to admit;...I would be devastated if that happened here this late in Winter.

The first year I moved back to Florida 6 years ago in an April, I planted a lot. That year 2008, everything I planted including 3ea. 12' tall Foxtail Palms, not to mention two large moving vans of mature plants from our courtyard garden in New Orleans that were extra special. We had several days of the low 20's here that year and spread out;... 80's one week and low 20's the next several times back to back and when Winter was finished it looked like a blow torch went through the new gardens. That was an eye opening experience indeed.

I sympathize with you hugely in spirit. Things will rebound.

Gin Gin, Carry everything you can into your house. I had to do that before when I was using kerosene heater and it messed up. It was a pain but it did save a lot of plants. My house looked crazy with plants everywhere. I'm sure you have already thought of that.

Maybe you can tie a long string or rope to the corner of the tarp or plastic, then throw it over the greenhouse with something on the end for a weight. You could then just pull the cover over the top? Be careful not to break any more panels on the roof, though. Use something big enough to throw, but soft enough not to break the panels if you miss! A plastic flower pot with a little dirt in it comes to mind.

Better to try than to just let your plants die! If this works I'd put the plastic over the greenhouse, then put the tarp over top of the plastic for extra insulation, too. You could fasten the plastic down permanently to fix your roof problem once the weather warms up, and take the tarp off. The tarp will have grommets you can tie the rope onto, as well. Tie it down to something heavy so it won't blow off.

David that must have been terrible losing those special plants. We have no control of the weather that is for sure. Your garden is spectacular. I would hate to see it freeze.
I'm not worried about anything planted outside. Most will come back from the roots. I have backups in pots of jatropha multifida, and Philippine violet and a few other things that are also planted outside. Butterfly clerodendrum, fire spike, and a couple others I'm not sure about but I hope they will come back as I have no backup for them. Anyway it will be OK just got to keep the greenhouse warm.
The cold should be good for the pears and plums. I'm hoping anyway. I also have some bearded iris that only bloom when we have a cold winter. So I'm hoping to see them bloom this spring. They haven't in several years. Trying to think positive.

Definitely not the pics they put in the travel brochures.

My GH is just heavy plastic & no heat. I left 2 Dendrobium orchids out there during the freeze. I'm amazed that they seem to be fine. I think just keeping the COLDest air from touching the plant does add some protection.
Hope your plants survive.