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| Screenshot from NOAA |
Uh oh.
Tonight's forecast low is 39 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tomorrow night we're expected to drop to 29.
Wednesday night could see a chilly 38.
It's the frosty Tuesday night forecast that's got me concerned. The warm weather over the past few days (temperatures around 80 degrees Friday, Saturday and Sunday) induced many of the plants that had stayed safely dormant through an interminable winter to unfurl new leaves and flowers.
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| Fothergilla in full bloom. Will these flowers withstand a brief spell at 29 degrees? |
I'm worried there will be significant damage to all this tender new growth if and when temps dip below freezing tomorrow night.
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| Creamy nodding aquilegia flowers come have started to bloom |
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| New leaves on the Natchez crape myrtle, one of the last trees in our area to leaf out. |
Typically, I aspire to be a Darwinian gardener, prizing plants tough enough to survive on their own. But this time, I think I might just intervene a wee bit and use overturned clay pots to cover Balloon Flower and Baptisia australis.
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| Fresh bright green growth on Balloon Flower (Platycodon). I think I will try covering this plant with an overturned pot tomorrow afternoon to retain some heat overnight. |
Do you have any experience with late frosts and freezes?
If so, which of your plants have come through unscathed and which have suffered major (or minor) damage?
I took lots more photos this evening. Stay tuned for another post toward the end of this week showing which plants sailed through without a scratch and which ones took it on the chin.
