Well 8:00 this morning the computer said it was 32 degrees. My outdoor themometer said 37...not sure if we had a frost...I didn't see any. I did cover a few of my plants last night, want to make sure my mums get a chance to bloom. I also did a few transplants a week or so ago so I want to protect them. I suppose come October I'll let it go.

I usually try to make it to Oct., but got lazy last night and didn't cover anything (probably won't tonight either). Just too much stuff to try and save the tender items, and lots of planting to do yet, so why worry about the extra stuff?

True, if I had your work load I would feel the same. Not suppose to get as cold tonight

We for sure had frost Wednesday night, and were supposed to have some Thursday night, but didn't notice it. I covered a lot of things, because I still have a couple of daylilies sending up scapes and some seed pods to ripen. I try to keep things growing until the beginning of October, then I usually go on vacation for a week, so after that, things are on their own.

I have a lot of planting to do this weekend, but temps are supposed to moderate. Beautiful sweatshirt weather, I just love fall ~Jan

We haven't had any frost ........ yet but it got pretty darn close there. I have moved the jasmines and the lemon, and lime trees into the sun room as well as my Glory Bower. The brugmansias will be next but they can handle a few nights in the upper 30's and the weather liars are saying 40's at night for this week. Once the brugs are in everything else is on its own until March

weather liars ha, ha.

Temps back in the 80's next week. Was thinking about spraying containers with insecticidal soap to bring in for overwintering but now I'm considering hitting it with a little miracle grow

Yeah our temps are going up to mid 70's by Wed. Course I have already hit most of my brugmansia with insecticidal soap and brought them into the sun room. I am NOT putting them back out. I don't thing my back muscles could handle that so early after bringing them in.

It's supposed to get that warm next week? I hadn't heard that. I just hope it's dry this weekend, my grass is going to need baled soon - at the rate it is growing with all the rain, it will be too tall for my lawnmower. Silly me fertilized before the first rain a couple weeks ago, not realizing we were going to get continious rain! ~Jan

I am hoping no more rain. The maple out back is losing its leaves fast. And wet leaves don'e like the shredder/vac or is it the other way around, Any way they have to dry up a bit so that they don't gum up the new machine.

Did I tell you that the original shredder/chipper/vac was stolen out of garden shed last spring? Ed went and bought us a new one about a couple weeks ago. It is really a back saver not having to rake up and bag all these leaves. I just vacuum the front and back yard. Empty the bag in big trash bags and store them until spring and use them for mulch.

Okay I have a question for all. Would an unheated garden shed be like an unheated garage minus the car????????????/ I would think so but I'm holding out to say what others think and why before I put my brugs out there. They did fine for me in the unheated garage one year. Even though the top growth did die and I panicked and had a double hissy fit . I cut them down and they came up from the roots real fast and tall....................................

detached or attached garage? attached is going to be a bit warmer than the "garden shed"

its attached and it seems everyone agrees with you so nope plants don't get a winter storage out there. hmmmm wonder if the car would fit in the garden shed.

Cherie I feel your pain and have the same dilemma in zone 5b. I'm going to take two y cuts and see if I can root them in water in the kitchen then pot them up and keep em in my office until late spring. Inca Sun was a pass along and first repeat bloomer I've ever had. It bloomed continuiously throught the summer and has at least 20 buds on it now. It was so much better than my other brugs that bloomed in fall. I must at least try to save it.

I am taking y cuttings from all the ones still outside and letting winter do its thing. I admit I have finally over extended myself with plants vs room to winter store. That is a hard thing for me to admit. But then Ed says all those cuttings root you'll still have all those plants in the sun room. Yeah but "smaller pots: My inca sun bit the dust this year, It never really performed well for me any way and I have been babying in along but it just decided to die. I dunno what was with that one.

CeCe -- i'd think it'd be ok. My garage rarely dips below freezing. it's insulated, but not heated. my sun room will dip into the 20s... i think the worst is the wind.
though i've never over wintered plants -- may this year though.

speaking of the frost... as with everyone else, in Wisc, we got nipped early -- in Sept sometime... some of the plants were hit hard -- but then perked back up with the warmth later in the month.

I brought home a huge [in a pot] Pineapple sage... never bloomed, but it's bit, about 30" tall. I may stick it in the garage, or basement [that will be 60-70 degrees] I also brought home a cute little fuchsia in a pot.. its hanging in the DR window.

Here in IL, we've had some light frost, but it hasnt hit near the house yet, just lightly in the grasses away from the house. i still have tons of plants blooming. I find what gets hit hte hardest are impatiens. In Wisc, I had to dump them the day I left [10-20-11] too bad... they all were still blooming.

I have to say.. i will give up after a hard frost. most of my plants that I really care about -- bloom-wise, are against the house, so they are more protected.

You know I had neglected to say that though my garage is not heated it IS dry-walled on all 3 sides,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we4 keep soda out there on the table and its never froze and the fish we put in a 55 gallon trash bin with pond water to the top and it has never froze either.....................And the dumb fish continue to multiply. WithOUT my permission I will add,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I have knockout roses still in bloom but when we got frost we got frost. Only about the last 4 or 5 days though, Things are blackening up and dropping now. I will go out this week and get some things cut back and burn in the fire pit. Two of my 4 trees still have all their leaves hanging on yet.

MOst of the shrubs still have their leaves,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but my sun room has plastic along the west side, on the south and half of the east side. We started doing that a couple years ago and it does help. We leave the one slider uncovered so we can go out that way to fill feeders for the birds.

CherieCoogan said: Yeah our temps are going up to mid 70's by Wed. Course I have already hit most of my brugmansia with insecticidal soap and brought them into the sun room. I am NOT putting them back out. I don't thing my back muscles could handle that so early after bringing them in.

Well, hmmm, it seems 11 yrs. and 1 week ago we had similar weather to this week, how quickly we forget.