Yes I hold back water, but even more important is fertilizer, or pruning. Both stimulate late season growth. New growth is at risk. Even if you have tip dieback, the tree will survive, and I myself will be removing a lot more than the tips before bud break in early spring. Also I probably will spray them with wilt stop. A wax based anti-desiccant. I'm really using it to protect my blackberries. I lost most of my canes last winter. So those I cannot cover with leaves will be sprayed soon. Any leftover will go on the trees. Well especially Spice Zee Nectaplum as the main leader died back to just above the graft last winter. Branches are thicker this year, all the same a very cool tree I want to protect till it has more girth! OK, let's go back to water. because trees can lose a lot of moisture from drying winds in the winter. You really want them very wet right about now! Sure hold back late season, but you want the tree well hydrated before the cold comes. So about this time of year, resume watering.

I'm glad to hear your front yard is in good shape. You had it looking really nice and evidently you used all the right plants for the right place! You are lucky your tropicals came through. The painted fingernail broms I got from you came through the freeze with flying colors for me. My bamboo did well also. I have Multiplex "fernleaf", yours were "Alphonse Karr"?? Sounds like those are plants to use more. Kay

Macky, your technique is quite similar to mine. I have two matching stainless steel kettles with large strainer basket inserts... this works well for large-scale freezing, since one basket can be cooling while the other is blanching. But rather than fill a sink with cold water, I place a kettle in the sink large enough to immerse the basket, and keep the tap running slowly into it. My well water is cold enough to make your teeth hurt! The cold water sinks to the bottom, and the warmer water is constantly flowing over the top. I stir constantly when the basket is first immersed, for about a minute, then let the veggies sit under the running water. Meanwhile, I strain out any fragments that might remain in the blanching kettle (the wide hand strainers sold in Asian stores work great for this), place the second basket in, and once the water resumes boiling, put in another batch to blanch. I remove & drain the batch that is cooling about a minute before the blanching is complete; by that time the water in the cooling kettle is cold. The other sink holds a colander for draining; but it's not that important to get the veggies completely dry. I initially freeze veggies in square plastic freezer boxes, then vacuum seal the frozen "blocks" into bags (this lessens the chance of debris interfering with the seal). A little water helps the veggies hold together during the transfer. I freeze greens (such as chard) covered in water; this reduces freezer burn. If you don't use a vacuum sealer, covering with water is a good alternative for extended storage. Place the veggies in a ziplock freezer bag, cover with water, squeeze out air bubbles, and seal. Be sure to leave enough room for the bag to expand as it freezes. In my experience, you don't want to use a cheap freezer bag for this, the seam might pop open or leak as it freezes. For me, vacuum-sealed green beans will last for over a year with good quality, if kept at 0 degrees F. A refrigerator ice box generally doesn't get that cold, so storage life would be reduced in the warmer conditions. A small chest freezer is a worthwhile investment if you want to freeze enough veggies for the year. Oh, one last note about blanching. For the best quality, it is best to work small batches. For me, one pound seems to be the magic number... the blanching times tend to match those listed in the Ball Blue Book, which is my reference of choice for canning & freezing. When freezing a new variety for the first time, it's a good idea to do a test batch & check for proper blanching, before freezing large quantities. One tip I've noticed is that when properly blanched, the beans (and most other cut veggies) will sink as they cool.

Yeah I saw the low temperature maps and the cold blast seemed to go right through central illinois and into indiana so the southern areas got a frost. Keep in mind we are living amung an urban sprawl whether it be in the city or suburns in our case, the temps are usually maintained above freezing as oppose to the outlying areas. Not only vehicle related heat factors, but the cement surfaces and buildings release heat at night to keep the temps a few degrees higher, buildings and houses also block winds and the lake moderates our temps some what as well. Cities are big microclimates. Chicago is warmer than Peoria IL, and Urbana, and even Indianapolis even though it is much further north. When those cold fronts blow through they will go very far south, and just about everything behind the cold front will experience the same temps.