Hard Freeze: Trick or Treat ?

[Dazed_Lily]

Well, it's no treat but what is a hard freeze by definition ? It is going to go below 32 tomorrow night and Wednesday night --to 29 and 27 . Is that a hard freeze ?

[Tom]

If those temperatures are maintained for a long period, enough to kill back most things, that are killed in the winter, then you have an official 'hard freeze'.

It only takes a light frost or a brief dip below freezing to kill some tender things back.

[Ann B.]

We are going to have another close call tonight. Temps are going to be somewhere between 39-42 degrees according to the various forecast. Real feal is going to be freezing, not good... I am not ready for that, so plants that I didn't move this afternoon will have to fend for themselves.

Hard freeze depends on how cold and for how long. If it is 30 degrees for 5-6 hours, that is a hard freeze, but if it is only for 1 or two, it is not. We have a lot of one or two hour freezes that kills most annuals and true tropicals. But 30 degrees for only a couple of hours will simply harm the top growth of subtropicals.

[sue salley]

They are predicting record breaking cold here tonight. About 25-29. Brrrrrrrrr

[Ann B.]

This is what I am afraid of...

It has been a weird year, and I am not ready for a real frost/freeze!

[Ann B.]

Once again, I was lucky. Temps dropped to 39 degrees, but no sign of frost, even on top of the car. The wind was blowing really hard, and I think that prevents the really cold temps from settling into my little valley.

Looking at the forecast, it appears that I still have a couple more weeks of blooms, at least.

In the meantime, we have a 3 day weekend for Veterans Day. By then, I'm going to need it.

This past week, I added another class on my schedule. One of our new math teachers decided to go back to engineering. This makes for a very long and busy day, but I don't mind it. Besides, I do get paid some extra for it.

The cooler weather is really nice, but there is so little daylight left when I get home. I'm looking forward to this weekend and a long next weekend, for sure!

[Dazed_Lily]

Tomorrow I will remove the blankets I put over the plant corral and some potteds on Halloween night. I have had long work days this week and could not remove the blankets during the day. The lows have been below 30 but Saturday night and on it will be 39 and progessively upwards(low 40's).
The highlight of my week was on my way home today; well, I actually had to go out of my way further east before heading west. Anyway, ready for the excitement ?!
I bought dirt !
I know--how exciting.
I bought out the remaining 8 bags of 40# cheapest potting soil. Trust me, there will not be more until spring. Out of 3 potential wally worlds, this was the last of it. I even took 2 broken bags at half price.
Yep, my gift card from work has bought nothing but cement blocks and dirt so far. I might branch out and use it to buy the cotton seed hulls that I use to winter insulate my daylilies. Ooo, I also need to buy plastic sheeting for the corral.
Well, I'd better go write up my "me-do" list for the weekend !

[Ann B.]

I'm getting low on my potting mix also. I believe I have enough of the perlite to last for awhile, but my vermiculite is gettnig low and definitely, I need some more potting mix.

I purchase the vermiculite and perlite in 4 cubic ft bags, but still, I use an awful lot of it. In the winter, the stock levels get low here, but it rarely goes down to nothing. Still, I shouldn't take that chance, so thanks for reminding me of that.

I'm not one to go to the store every day or even every week. I think that is because I grew up in the country, my Dad was in another area of the Gulf Coast and for a long time, Mama didn't know how to drive and didn't have a car. So, deeply embedded in my brain is buy a lot if you need a lot and keep it in stock. Thus, the freezer full of food, two refrigerators with no room to spare and every cupboard stocked to the hilt.

Now, if only I had a nice garden shed to store the stockpile that I seem to have to have ready so that I don't run out.

LAS!!!! I love to buy wholesale!

[Dazed_Lily]

Oh my ! That sounds like Sam's Club syndrome but I understand it isn't really and that your bulk buying was originally of necessity. When 'bulk buying' first(?) came of age--Costco/Sam's--people bought amusing quantities thinking they were saving money which is usually more perception than reality. Now that I think of it, close of the heals of bulk buying came the 'lack of storage space' phenomenon leading to 3 car garages with the third one for 'stuff' ! In fact, we seem to have so much stuff that in addition to third car garages, we need storage units ! Fascinating , isn't it ? Off to find a Vanilla Wafer/Pudding recipe....

[Ann B.]

Yep! I'm guilty!

I LOVE Sam's club. I buy certain things that I know we use a lot, and try my best to stay away from those things that we don't.

I have spent two weeks teaching unit rates, proportions, probability, etc. and you should see my students eyes when we compare the price of the little bags of potatoe chips in the snack machines to those big bags that you buy at Walmart. Then we talk about non-brands, etc.

They definitely go for the 'convenience' idea. It seems to be the thing to do nowadays. It's especially easy when your parents are paying for the convenience and not complaining about it.

Go figure...

It's a new day! RIGHT!!!!

[Ann B.]

Cathy,

You made me nervous about your experiences regarding having a hard time finding potting soil in the winter. Remember that I said I was running low? Well, as I read your post, I kept picturing in my mind how low the stock of my favorite mix was at HD. So, I decided I'd better go ahead and stock up, right?

When I got there, I found that they had completely restocked. I bought two huge bags of it just in case. I also purchased another 4 cu. feet of vermiculite. I can get the vermiculite and Perlite at BWI for less, but it is not as convenient as Home Depot and BWI's vermiculite is a coarser grade.

Anyway, I have stocked up for now, and I've been busy repotting plants that will be protected over the winter in my porch/patio. I keep telling myself that I absolutely must get ready for winter, but it simply feels like it is too soon for winter to be here.

So, keep reminding me, okay?

[Dazed_Lily]

One sign of fall here in Kansas is the annual migration that comes through at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms. There are over 600,000 geese (white fronts, snows and Canada geese), 300,000 sandhill cranes and 75,000 ducks as well as Whooping Cranes, Tundra Geese, etc.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/15925851.htm

I have seen some odd water fowl here that I am having a tough time identifying. Of course we also have Canada geese but I sense that they are the migrating kind.
I wish I had a telephoto camera so I could take photos of the ones that are unfamiliar. Anyway, it is an exciting time here right now for bird watchers. (On a less positive note, pheasant hunting season started this weekend--boo-hiss!).

UPDATE: I think I id'ed the 3 odd geese as White fronted Geese. They migrate from Alaska and the Arctic Tundra to Texas(probably other places in that latitude as well).
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/greater.htm
And I think the red headed/red eyed ducks are called..duh..red headed ducks ! :rolleyes:

[sue salley]

Cathy, How lucky you are to be on the flight path of the cranes and live near water. The whooping crane is becoming very rare. I hope you can get a pic. I haven't seen one in years.

[Rebecca]

Cathy,

You lucky duck! I'd probably faint if I saw any kind of a crane here! Canada Geese and Great Blue Herons and an occasional Green (?) Heron are all I see of waterfoul (and Mallard Ducks).

I do get to spot a couple of birds of prey, Red-tailed Hawks and the rarely seem Sparrow Hawk. When I worked on the N-W side of Indy I would occasionally see a Bald Eagle soaring high about the resivour, but I haven't seen one of them in years. I do miss seing all the birds I used to see.

Ann,

You're a lucky duck too, being able to not only find potting soil but but it as well. Good thing I re-cycle the potting mix from potted plants that get sold during the growing season! Of course, I used to be able to stock up on the supplies I used all the time and I will be able to again, someday.

All my baby amaryllis seem to be going dormant! I am taking this as a sign that they could bloom this winter.

That silly variegated Hibiscus decided to bloom, after I brought it inside and was about to prune it back! A couple of the otheer hibiscus grown from cuttings are showing some buds and my big double rose pink has a bloom.

Papilo has 8 leaves on each bulb but not a sign of any flower stems yet. I'm actually surprised it is still in growth.

Penny Seed sale is still progressing, some crosses a lot better than others and some are at a stand still (which is a good thing sionce they got double posted). I will be glad when this auction is over so I can get an accurate count of whe I have left and try to decide (all over again) what I'm going to plant. I'll have to package seeds for auction winners tomorrow afternoon so I know which ones I am short on and by how many. People who have won with high bids will probably get some extras (just don't know of what), Then I will have to get busy and bag up more seeds to list on a new auction, or auctions.

I've been checking the plants in the big bed and there sure seems to be a lot of evergreens over there! All the potted ones on the back bed are already on their sides tokeep them from getting and staying too wet. All of the plants are actually looking pretty good. Some of the seedlings in the "cold frame" have gone dormant, but most are still nice and green.

Guess that's all the on and off topic "news" (babble really) I have for now.


Rebecca