I like the way you garden and think, Marie!!!!

Beautiful garden..........so warm and loving.

We had our first frost last night and the temperature in the greenhouse went down to 45 deg. Bad guess on my part when I set the timer. How was I to know it would go below freezing outside this morning. We are usually warmer than most. I need to get out there and see if it did any damage. I doubt it did, but my luck is not too good lately.

Hopefully it will all be okay, JB. I bet the greenhouse holds some warmth too, so inside it may not have been that cold. Plus, 45 isn't too cold for most things, I don't think!

It depends on how long it was down to 45 deg. As long as it was not 45 for several hours they should be o.k. They should be o.k. anyhow since all but one flat are pretty well along and they can take a jolt without any trouble.

We were in the 40s this morning too! A real chill in the air.

Fall is definitely here!

As long as it stays fall for a while and not become winter too soon. The leaves are starting to fall fast now.

I hear you, Marie! I'm not looking forward to 'long underwear' days.

But, but.... Wintersowing!

I am not ready for winter yet either. I am for a nice long warm Fall season.

I think you're getting your wish, Rita.

It is nice today!

Hi Marie, I'm another Jersey gardener. We're about an hour from AC too; in Mt. Laurel. Your gardens are beautiful! wow the elephant ears really make a statement. are they growing in pots?

I didn't bring in our avocado tree. we are so maxed out inside with plants to overwinter. I think it may have to go. it's terrible how attached I get to every single plant. I wish we had a greenhouse

I guess that one needs the whole heat/ventilation system in a greenhouse to really overwinter tender plants. I know a few people who tried it and found it difficult to keep everything going correctly so my desire for owning one has waned.

No they are not in pots. The ones I did in pots did not do so well, but then again it might have been the bulbs . I had ones in the past that did wonderful in pots.
I had to let some go last year. I had nursed 2 tropical Hibiscus from a 3 inch plant to a full grown plant. I was heart broken.

So, @makap Marie, this year are you going to try to winter over all those tropicals, or some of them anyway? It would be hard to lose all that permanently!

Ha! We found out last night that the heat in the house is not heating. My cousin thinks it is likely just the pilot light that needs attention; it will be seen to tomorrow. Fortunately, it isn't terribly cold and the house is well insulated. But I did keep wondering last night why the air from the heating vent kept feeling so cool!

It's sunny and will remain sunny for days, highs in the high 60s or up to 70, and it isn't yet frosty at night. So, we're fine.

Going to stock up on some garden supplies this afternoon and add some topsoil to that one new bed, but pretty much everything is as ready for cold as I know how to make it. Once we get to actual freezing time I'll mulch some areas more heavily, probably.

I used to make the mistake of mulching before a hard freeze!! Now I know that the mu'ch is to keep the ground from constantly freezing and defrosting so I wait until the right time. I get lots of straw bales to do the mulching with. So far no animal problems from doing it this way. I also leave half a dozen bales out just to weather and rot during the winter. In late spring these bales add some good texture and nutrition to our clay soils.

So, @Roses_R_Red, what is that right time? I guess I would have thought it was right before a freeze but I gather that's not so? (I did just read, somewhere or other, that too deep a layer of mulch can cause problems because the moisture can't get to the soil....)

And I have some straw on hand, so I'm on the page with you about that.

I was informed that the right time is AFTER the first hard freeze. I was also told that the plants should be well hydrated before the freeze. All this seems like a tall order sometimes, but when I get it right, I don't lose any plants including some of the more tender rose bushes.

Okay! Well, I don't argue with what works. And I did know to water copiously right before an expected hard freeze so half of it I was already on board with.

I'll try it this way and see how I go, then. Thanks!