Hi again Everyone..... I haven't been able to post to thank the rest of you for your responses due to work and...guess what? We are still digging out from a huge snowstorm which started last night and is still going on late tonight, although less heavily. (Plus another snowstorm for Friday!). We got an extra foot of snow out of it so far. It takes forever for DH to snowblow us out (our driveway is very long) and we have tons of steps up to the house, which is fun since tonight I went grocery shopping and had to lug in tons of bags! Don't you just love it? cindi...you are very ambitious, doing all that shoveling yourself! Yikes. In years gone by, when my kids were little and I was a divorced mom I used to shovel out my driveway and steps all by myself because I couldn't afford to have someone plow it. I am quite fortunate to have my DH now who not only takes care of all the snow removal, but is my right-hand man out in the garden all summer. Carol....sorry about your toe! I know what you mean about being cooped up inside....in the summer I take a 4-mile walk everyday, but the road has been too snowy and icy all winter for much exercise....I feel so lazy and sluggish now. I really think we should all hibernate all winter like the bears and such. Karyn...That is so cool that you live in Sanbornton!! I work in Tilton as a nanny. I live in Belmont, but am on the Gilford side (Durrell Mountain & Belknap Mtn. just down the road). Can you believe how HUGE the snowbanks are around here? I can't even imagine how much flooding we will have in the spring, not to mention the worst MUD-SEASON ever. Looking out there, its hard to imagine we will ever see the end of winter. That is wonderful to hear that the sap will be running in a few weeks....it gives me hope! Pure New Hampshire maple syrup is the best! Lesley...Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the thread....we are all waiting patiently for spring and keeping each other hopeful! Ruth....Thank you for the tip on the Botanic Garden in Ontario. I had not heard of it but am now putting it on my list of gardens to see. I have not been to Ontario (my son has and loved it) but I have always wanted to. We enjoy visiting Canada every year....have been to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec City and Montreal many times. (DH and I honeymooned in Nova Scotia, as did my son and his wife). Ronda....I am a rose-book fanatic....I keep collecting more and more rose books, mostly just for the photos. Believe it or not, I have about 20 or so more than the picture shows! Thanks for the link to those gorgeous, amazing garden photos. What a treat! Silverkelt....Great photos, and I'll bet you had fun out there last night and today (and tomarrow, and Friday, etc.) snow-blowing. My husband owns a hardware store and they had a lot full of snowblowers at the beginning of the season (like 60 blowers) and now they are all gone, with people begging to get their hands on one. DH repairs snowblowers, ice augers, chainsaws, woodsplitters, etc. and had to hire extra help this year, when usually he is a one-man operation. I believe we will reach that snowfall record quite easily! And I know what you mean about driving in the winter....that aspect of winter is what I hate most of all. And it always seems to wait to snow to coincide with the morning & evening commute. Peggy....What would we do without flourescent lighting? It is such a delight to have something growing inside when all is frozen outside. I have always been fascinated by orchids, but have never tried growing them. Better I don't get into another addiction....lol.

Depending on the variety they should be able to handle those temps. I am up here in Ontario Canada and last night my Redwing and Cortland seedlings were exposed to -6.5C (20F) in my unheated greenhouse. They are in cell packs and the grow medium just about froze solid and they survived and appear to be fine now. I don't know if this will adversely affect them later in their growth ie. bolting or thick necks, I guess I'll find out. We are having another very cold night tonight so I brought them inside, I don't want to push my luck. They are about 9 weeks out from seed in 100 cell packs, about 2 - 4 seedlings per cell. Hope this helps.

I don't recall the exact details too well but, last year I had some plants get down to 18F. They weren't exactly seedlings. 6-10" tall. My estimate is they were in sub freeze for at least 4-6 hours. Many plants were crystalized frozen, not just cold. 1/3rd died outright. 1/3rd died a slow painful lingering death later on. the other third eventually recovered. They recoved extremely slowly. 2 weeks to 2 months. They lost all their leaves and 30+% of their tops. A Mighty Few, about 6, seemed unaffected. They lost their leaves but quickly boiunced back. I wish I could recall which ones they were. Very foggy memories say the tough guys were Sunset's Red Horizon and Siberia. In the end it would have been faster to replant the frozen ones. But the few that did recover from freezing lived on through the summer and did quite well.

It is pretty easy to determine how well plants might survive over winter. If you Google by botanical name, you will turn up various websites that will indicate a minimum winter zone level they are liable to survive. And because they are being grown in containers and not in the ground and therefore subject to much colder temps from the surrounding air, you want to make sure that they are listed for a hardiness zone at least 2 lower than yours. So none of your plants would have been expected to survive a "normal" zone 7 winter outdoors in containers without some sort of protection. And since you probably experienced some extreme cold earlier this winter - as did most of the east coast - it is almost guaranteed that your container plants are toast.