Most of the Ottawa Valley exclusive of the city is in USDA Zone 4b which has normal winter minimums of -31C to -28C (-25F to -20F). Ottawa itself like most cities is a heat island about 3C degrees warmer placing it in the very bottom of Zone 5. But we all know that the USDA scale does not say anything about length of winter or early/late frosts. I am about 50 km south and west of the city. Yesterday was arctic like with a windchill in the city of -24C and closer to -30C in the Valley. Today is just snow and snow and snow. Last spring was early by about 2 weeks with snow gone mid March in record heat but I can remember 2008 when the last snow melted Apr 20. My experience with small seedlings has been that lack of water especially coupled with high heat is one of the prime reasons why they do not grow rapidly Given good drainage, moderate sunlight and loads of water virtually all hostas grow well. For example, the white centred hostas that many claim to be finicky appear to grow here just the same as other hostas. But I do have a sprinkler system installed that pumps water from the river and the soil is well drained. Doug

I always plant a bit shallow in my heavy clay but i mulch a lot never had many issues that i could point to be planted to high a lot of times i plant the plants on little hills so i can slowly fill the beds in with mulch to make them level just like with these trees but on a smaller scale see how high the trees look now i have a nice raised bed - were they planted to high? Yep but now they are just right - I do pretty much the same thing with hostas

BKay, yes, that is the one I'm talking about. Since I saw no pictures of how he wintered over the pots, I made up a scenario for it. And voila, cinder blocks and timbers as runners, to keep from tearing down the wooden fence not intended to bear such weight as heavy flower pots. Cheerio, Theresa. Wear some latex gloves when you handle the treated wood. The ones I got were freshly received and very heavy and wet, so I had to wear gloves dealing with them. JonnyB, that Walls of Hampshire is exquisite and I suppose whether I like it or not, I'll keep expanding UP....no more room to spread OUT....except convert existing shaded beds to real soil planting space for the best of my hosta. My "allee" will be called to duty later this winter when I make sure the fire ants are gone. They aerated several pots and the hosta roots dried out. Perhaps they will revive next spring, but those became dormant quickly. Hooked, yes, Dixie will be happy to have another huntress to double-team those squirrels with her. At one time, I had three dachshunds; hilarious to watch them play together. They team hunted for rabbits successfully. And the male had a system for catching birds which came to his food bowl outdoors....he never ate them, just hid them in his bed where I smelled them after a couple of days. His treasures. He was a throw-back to standard dachshund size, a real large hunting dog, but his favorite food was....ICE CREAM. The two girls liked liver and fish. Wonderful to have more than one, to see how they interact and relate to one another. I'm looking forward to Dolly's arrival. Hello, Dolly!....It's so great to have you back where you belong. Her breeder sent this picture. Maybe the weekend after Thanksgiving, she will be eating entirely on her own and she can come live with sister Dixie. BTW, the breeder has a stable and is bringing some bags of HORSE MANURE when she comes with Dolly. How nice. :)

Toast for sure, sunnywood! We had hard frost and significant snow already. lindalana, it's rarely cold and dreary here. Cold and snow may last for a few days, followed by sun. It was bright, sunny and nearly 60 today. I was busy outside all day. The weird thing was that we never really had Fall. Many of the trees and shrubs in my yard didn't have a chance to lose their leaves. So frost and snow came right on green which is now squishy and green.