Viewing post #710548 by LabourofLove

JungleShadows said:MR, I grew semps in a very cold Zone 4-5 MA garden for years. Only a few things did not grow well, 'Commander Hay', for one, I wuld grow and lose every year. Finally gave it up as a bad job. Mrs. Crane's garden was in Dalton MA, which was also very cold and of course Cleveland Morgan, the famous gardener and hybridizer, lived in Montreal. Not exactly the tropics. And of course these are ALPINE plants for the most part so they can take a Zone 3 winter with no problem. The baby seedlings would be my only concern. Those you might want to protect. The best thing for that is Garden Quilt or Remay. You can cover whole beds but be aware it can BLOW AWAY. Make sure it is weighted down or tied down with staples. preferably BOTH. If you are prone to ice, then the Remay is good for protection.

I should do a confession. I had covered a bed of newly transplanted Pacific Coast Native irises with Remay and we had some severe wind even though I THOUGHT I had enough rocks on it to secure it (OR has more wind than I would have expected before I moved here). The Remay was gone. Two weeks later I was walking at a park in downtown Salem. Along the edge of a brook I noticed, you guessed it, my long blown away Remay, 7 miles away. If it wasn't in the ice cold water, I would have rescued it. The next time I went the Remay was gone, but I was still embarrassed. I don't like to create trash. Now the Remay has both staples and rocks on the edges to keep it in place!

Kevin

The shadecloth bed covers that I've made are of 60% woven shade fabric. One edge attaches to the long sides of a bed with 3 or 4 screws that stick out a bit and stay in the beds year-round. The other side is stapled to a length of 1"x3" furring that keeps it rigid and weighs it down to keep it in place no matter the weather. When not in use, they are rolled up (around the furring strip) and stored under some benching. We are Zone 3 in my area and (unless it's mis-labelled) 'Commander Hay' does OK here.