The weather is so odd this year that I haven't done nearly as many arrangements as I usually do. I always leave my large decorative concrete containers of perennials out all year. Some contain prostrate junipers, others have sedum. As winter approaches, I push into the dirt itself a variety of offcuts of evergreen branches, attractive branches and some artificial boughs. If it's a bit wobbly, I pack snow tightly around the base of the arrangement and water VERY lightly - just enough to freeze everything in place overnight. I also have a pretty fair-sized collection of good quality artificial garlands and wreaths for outside use. However, I always supplement heavily with real branches of any conifer (except cedar which browns out way too fast), juniper and cranberry berries, pine cones and fungi and moss from the nearby woodlands. It's the most friendly and organic way to shelter the birds who use all the feeders and heated bird baths that I have scattered around. It's great to see any life in the garden in these long winter months. Once the holidays are done, I just remove the lights and leave the natural arrangement until warmer weather. I have even taken (with the merchants' blessings) unsold outdoor Christmas trees on Boxing day and plunked them into the biggest snowdrifts in my back garden. Not solely for the birds - the evergreens give me a little more privacy and depth in my young suburban landscape when the deciduous trees are bare. Not this year though. Still no snow on the ground. Almost traumatic that... However, for tall, stand-alone arrangements in unsheltered locations exposed to strong winter winds, I think that the only way you can really ensure that it all stays upright is to have a container deep enough to hold at least 1/3 of the total height. A weighty mix of dirt, styrofoam peanuts or floral foam for volume, snow and just enough water to freeze it all together should help to anchor the structure.

I had almost finished writing a nice detailed answer to the comments posted, but not quite, and a family member deleted my post. In brief, lavender lass, our winter is about as long as yours, but far milder, with temperatures rarely falling below 20F. Five feet of snow is a good winter's worth, in warm winters we get less. I'm told that thirty-forty years ago it snowed a lot more. The weather has been erratic since we moved to Italy in 2000. It will take me some nerve actually to order a hundred roses, but planting them is not a problem, in part because we do a sadly cursory site preparation. We planted several hundred plants this fall. My husband does most of the digging as he's the one with good knees. Seil, enjoy your garden this year! I may get enough roses to satisfy me one day, I hope before I run out of money, and plan then to spend the rest of my life studying and propagating them. Probably I'll never completely stop adding roses, but it won't be 30-60-100 varieties a year as I'm trying to do in this phase. Ingrid, I hope you got your rain. Nothing more important for the garden. We have a forecast of rain for Sunday and Monday, and I hope it turns out to be correct, because water levels are still very low here in spite of the snow we got. Ogrose, I hope you regain the ground lost with last year's horrible weather. You Texans and the Oklahomans sound like you had an awful time: the garden year of nightmares. Good luck with the butterfly garden; I'm all for plantings that are friendly to the nicer insects. I remember great flocks of migrating butterflies in Florida when I was a child: Gulf Fritillaries, with silver spots on the undersides of their wings. Suzy, yes, it's so much fun gardening on a grand scale; I just hope that in the long run it works, with my limits on money and manpower and water. It's a very big, very long-term bet. I agree that the world situation is ugly, but on the other hand, here in Italy Berlusconi is GONE!!!!!! and we have Monti, and there's a sense that the government is at last on the side of the decent and the honest. What a huge, what a gigantic relief. So there is at least a possibility of change for the better. All the same I'm pessimistic about the U.S. and world economies. Actually, I moved from Florida to western Washington state, where I lived and gardened for a decade before moving to Italy. So I had some practice in being flexible by the time I got here, as well as experience with a type of Mediterranean climate. I was lucky, arriving in a wonderful climate to garden (though last year was rough and this year looks worrisome). But yes, you do learn to grow what your conditions allow, and learning what plants those are, and maximizing your gardening environment, is a lot of the fun. Quite a few gardeners use the cost of a rose as their personal unit of currency. I'm totally in agreement with you about the excellent price/value ratio of roses. Have you been able to get out in your garden yet? It certainly does make a difference to my mood. Here the snow is still melting and it's muddy, something I haven't seen since November. I've been puttering around close to the house, uncovering my potted plants and pruning a bit. I'm looking forward to complete access to my garden, having still a good deal of pruning and weeding to do. We're in the second half of February! Spring is getting closer! A beck is a creek or stream, isn't it? (German "Bach", meaning "stream"). Italy's slowly returning to normal after the snow, with plenty of blame for mismanagement to spread around. There is a long-term smoldering anger at Trenitalia that is beginning to flame up both in open wrath (there was one episode in which furious travelers blocked the train tracks) and in court action, and rightly so in my opinion. I do hope the economic liberalization results in competition to this sorry company. Here in Piacenza we had no serious problems, but I notice that the unusual cold means that we're slow warming up; even with a warm sun, we have to have a fire all day long to keep the house temperature above 60F. I wish you all the weather you need in this season! Happy gardening! Melissa

There's nothing quite as cool-looking(temperaturewise) as BLUE flowers. I grew Phacelia a few years ago, best blue i ever saw, next to cornflowers. The bell-shaped blue flowers with icy-white anthers were beautiful, and stirred up images of cooler weather. They do have a short bloom time, hot weather just about stops the show, cutting back helps somewhat. Give 'em a try, i believe there are 2 or 3 varieties. Good luck, and enjoy.

A few years ago I had planted eggplants too early. They had grown a bit, and then a freeze was forecast. What I did to protect them might be useful for some of you. I garden in on a ridge which was forest before I began clearing. I tied a rope from a tree over to a stump, with the rope being over the row of eggplants. I then laid plastic sheeting over the rope in tent style, throwing dirt on the edges of the plastic to hold it down. Under the "tent" I placed jugs of hot water, just before going to bed for the night. I made sure the plastic did not touch the eggplants. They came through the freezing weather just fine, and we had a good crop that year. I believe that was the first year I ever grew eggplants. Now, to adapt that to your circumstances. Take t-posts or some other type of sturdy post and drive them in at the end of each row. Tie a rope between them, and make a tent over that rope. Put jugs of hot water in late at night or a couple of hours before daylight when the frost is most likely to occur. If your rows are too long, add additional post in the middle. Sheets may work as well as plastic sheeting, at least for frost danger. Alas, I myself have too big a garden to do as I have just described. My rows are fairly long, and there are a lot of them. But, I live in southern Oklahoma, and on a ridge. The temps may not get as low here, and being on a ridge helps in that the cool air sinks and goes down into the valley and thus often spares the garden. I'm going to see what tonight's temps get down to, and then decide whether I need to attempt some saving measures tomorrow night. For where I am, I believe tomorrow night will be the potentially dangerous time. Being on a ridge with steep hills on both sides has been the saving grace more than once here. While t-posts are not cheap, all of these things, (posts, rope, heavy plastic) are things which can be stored and re-used year after year. If you have a small enough garden, and are willing to go to the effort, it might make a difference. Good luck everyone. Okieman