OK First Frost

[Ginger]

We are expecting our first frost this weekend with lows in the morning of 35 or so. I have to say.. I am ready
My hosta are looking really tired and spent, and even though we have been getting a ton of rain and I have not had to drag the hose all over God's green earth, I am ready for everything to go to sleep for the winter

I do still have some Hosta that are putting out new growth and one is still flowering I may have to put it in the shed

Ginger

[Chris_W]

I hear you Ginger, I am ready for them to go to sleep too. We had a frost a week ago that was so light the hostas remained virtually untouched. In a way I'm really glad that we've had such a long summer, though, because it puts my mind at ease about nematodes. If any damage was going to show up in our growing area we would certainly see it by now. Since there aren't any chemicals to combat nematodes we can only really rely on quarantine methods before planting things out, and keeping close watch on what is there.

But other than that, I'm ready. The growing areas are all mapped, inventoried, and I even have the hosta list for 2010 worked out, so they can go to sleep now. Besides, the longer and colder the winter the bigger the plants will be next year

[Ginger]

Sounds like you are ready and then some Chris! I suspect we will have a cold wet winter in OK this year, which for us means ICE NOT looking forward to that
Ginger

[thy]

Winter

the longer and colder the winter the bigger the plants will be next year

????????
Something new or just me ?

[loisf]

This was the scene we awoke to this morning, along with a temperature of 24 degrees. Yesterday was glorious; everything was still blooming. Today is so sad.

[Chris_W]

Wow, Lois, it doesn't even look like your hostas had taken a frost yet!

The good thing about snow, however, is that it insulates plants from the full force of 24 degrees, so things would have looked worse without the snow. How's that for a silver lining?

[loisf]

Chris, they hadn't suffered a frost yet. We had our first light one only yesterday, and most of the hosta didn't seem affected at all. And you're right about the snow protecting them. It's only 34 now at 2:00, but the sun it out and the snow is melting. Unbelievably, many of the hosta are slowing lifting their leaves off the ground and standing up. Unfortunately, I think it's supposed to be back in the 20's overnight for the next few nights. That will probably do them in. I'm just not ready for winter yet. I had kind of a rough summer, and I was counting on that fantastic September weather to last a couple of more months. Silly me!

[jgh]

My condolences to all who are watching the devastation of frost and snow. After a summer of drought we finally broke down and hired some guys to reside our house and replace some windows and generally debilitate our savings account. This is what the house looked like a couple of weeks ago...





so of course it started to rain... day after day, setting the project back to a completion date of "whenever."

then the frost and snow were coming.

we wrote a bunch of pre-dated checks and got out of dodge.

no frost here in Virginia... the RV is snug at night... pictures like yours, Lois??? We stick our fingers in our ears and say la-la-la-la-la... putting off the inevitable as long as we can!

[eastwood2007]

That looks like a marvelous adventure, jgh!!!

We've dodged a bullet here with frost and freezes. Ten days ago there was frost on the north side of roofs as I was going to town. We didn't get any here though, which is very surprising, since we are usually first being down in kind of a hole.


Over the weekend it was supposed to freeze Fri. and Sat. but we stayed at 35 with cloud cover so no frost. We are out of the woods, I think, for a week or more now. Thank goodness, because I still have a lot to plant!!! The ground is wet, but I covered the seedling bed, so it will be dry when the rain stops and I can get back out to the gardens.

[gamekeeper]

Chris is that true that longer colder winters help the plants?

[Chris_W]

In the case of hostas, yes, there seems to be a correlation between longer, colder winters and bigger clumps, or at least bigger eyes and leaves. The dormant eyes/buds form underground or under the mulch/snow during the winter. The longer they are covered the larger they seem to develop. It is especially true for the sieboldianas and sort of the "big blues" that only develop one set of dormant buds during the winter, but not so important for ones like the fragrant plantaginea relatives (those send out new eyes all summer long so dormancy isn't a real issue with them).

[Ginger]

I have seen a big change in my hosta since I put them all in pots and leave them out all winter. The ground just never got cold enough in the winter IMO and since they have been in pots, the leaves are much bigger, more eyes and they actually seem a lot healthier. So I am a believer in cold for Hosta

Ginger

[thy]

Chris, so even if the roots do not grow with temps. below 4 C the buds do .....?

This may explain something for me.
During the years my hostafriend( in crime) and I had got the same plants at the same time. Often he had them transported to Denmark and I had to pick first Tiny differences or none, but every hosta has grown better/faster in his garden than mine.
No big difference in watering and fertilizing...we talk to much
They have sandy soil, I had clay and we thougth it was the reason, even we could not understand it for real..reason= mine came up before his did, but his grew bigger than mine.
I was close to the coast (and even closer now), he lives in a frost hole. Even if the country is no more than 70 miles with some places - where he lives is one of them- there are big differencies between the coastal areas and the middle of the country. The temperature gab can be up to 15C in wintertime.Right now, mid might, he have minus 1,7C and I have at least +5,8 C. If I am lucky My killing fros can wait 2 to 3 weeks

Have to talk to him about it ,...
It even may help him whis the normal winter blues.. knowing his hostas goes down before mine and rise after mine
Pia