Shhh… whisper, please. We don’t want to be discovered.
We are hunkered down here at May Dreams Gardens on an afternoon with clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 50’s waiting for the arrival of frost. We do not know when the frost will arrive or if it will arrive at all.
We just know we are under a frost advisory so probably early in the morning when all the radiant heat has escaped from the earth up into those clear blue skies, we’ll have temperatures drop to below 32F, freezing the dew and turning it into frost.
When that happens, all the plants that have bloomed or leaved out will be left to fend for themselves.
There are blooms a-plenty.
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| A sampling of what’s blooming on March 26, 2012 |
And lots of leaves, too.
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| A sample of leaves leaved out on March 26, 2012 |
All we can do is hunker down. There are not enough sheets, blankets or drops cloths here to cover everything, even if we were foolishly inclined to do so. And heavens no, we do not use plastic sheets. Or put trash bags over the tops of trees. That is all foolishness.
We do nothing. We hunker down. We wait. We wonder. If there is aftermath, we’ll deal with it.
This won’t be our last frost advisory before our usual frost free date of May 10th. Or May 15th. Or May 12th. Or whenever it is.
April, which is right around the corner, is a cruel, cruel month for gardens, and gardeners, especially those gardens that spend two weeks in March acting like it is high summer. April will have its share of frost advisories, and warning, too.
Hunker down. And wait. That’s all we can do.
Hunkering Here in Chesterton! Will you give us a full report tomorrow?
crossing my fingers that there isn't any damage if the frost does come.
Very beautiful blooms and foliage. Responding to changes in weather is totally different in different climes. Because there you panicked, almost, to the changes in times the expected arrives or not. In our climate of only wet and dry, where we are now supposedly in the dry, we are so very thankful that there are a few drizzles sometimes. At least it lessened the heat and give the drying grass some new greens. In fact a day full of rain is very much welcome. If only some of your cold winds can be channeled to us, we will be so grateful.
I am hunkering down too, hoping that we escape the dreaded frost. The weather sure has been lovely for late winter/early spring in Indiana.
I hope it does no damage and please do not send it this way. I looked up 2009 when with spring in full swing we had a frost April 7th.
Frost arrived here during the night. 20 degrees at 7:30 am. However, even though things are more advanced than usual we still don't have much in the way of bloom – so perhaps the damage on my hill will not be so severe.
It's so tough for me to do nothing when there are so many beautiful flowers in bloom. But you're right, it's usually best to just let it pass, and hope for the best.
Oh my all those beautiful blooms and leaves! We are not under frost advisory yet here in S. Wisconsin, but I'm sure the day will come… this early spring is too good to be true, of course.
Oh, the problems of an early Spring in Zone 6. Everything is blooming and we fear that we'll lose everything. Hang in there.
What a great way to put it … "hunker down"! When the furnace kicked in last night, I tried not to panic. As you said, there are not enough blankets, sheets and tarps.
Yes, we do generally use the hunker down method here too, with mostly good results. However, I had to draw the line this year. My three year old doublefile viburnum had it's first ever buds, and I could not leave them to the vagaries of frost. I tucked them in! And my tiny little lilac tree? Well, it also spent the night under a blanket. I just couldn't miss that scent!