An ASATGCBW lesson. I grow in Maine, where frost in the ground can be deep and last a long time. One of the crops I grow is sunchokes, and for a variety of reasons, I harvest them in spring. A few years ago, I made arrangements with a chef in Philadelphia to provide 100 lbs of sunchokes for a special dinner he was doing in April. I wasn't worried about the quantity - I grow several times that amount in a 30' x 75' bed - but the weather was a concern. We had been through a colder than average winter with a good amount of snow cover, but based on previous experience, I knew it was likely that I would spend a few hours digging in cold mud, another hour or two with a high-pressure sprayer cleaning them off, and then a trip to the FedEx counter at the local municipal airport. Well, as you've already guessed, things didn't quite work out that way. I spent the first few hours of my day shoveling snow off the beds. Then, several more hours with a pick-axe breaking out huge icy clods, which I loaded on a toboggan and moved into my house to thaw. It commenced snowing, again. Several more hours kneeling by the bathtub, prying frozen knobby tubers from the grip of frozen clay. A harrowing drive on snowy roads, trying to get to the airport in time. Back home, still snowing, to remove the trap from under the bathtub to get all the crap out of the drain. A call from the chef - the flight was delayed, so he would have to do all the prep on the same day as the meal, and he wanted reassurance that they would need minimal cleaning. I got the crop delivered. It wasn't a lot of money, but it put my product in one of the 17 true 5-star restaurants in the US. The date, according to my calender and records, was within range of when the ground could be worked - and it turned out it could - but it was a lot more work than I had planned on - including bringing all that mud back out to the garden the next day, picked clean of sunchokes.

Siloam Double Fringe is my favorite - it's still going strong here in New York. Mini Pearl is such a sweet daylily - the colors are so delicate. Mine is in desperate need of division! Beautiful shots, all of them! Here is a link that might be useful: The Stubborn Gardener

For anyone not used to the use of the terminology "Average Last Freeze Date", remember that once your area reaches its' statistical average last freeze date, you still have a 50% chance of having freezing temperatures after that date. Of course I look at the averages, but I know my own micro-climate better than the averages do and I go more by our average soil temps (taken in our own soil), NWS forecast air temps and prior history here at our place when making decisions about when to plant. It didn't take me long to realize we are in a cold micro-climate compared to the part of our county where the mesonet station is located, and we often have freezing weather much later in the spring than it does (and also much earlier in the fall). Remember that the data for each county is compiled from official records for weather recording stations. At your house, your temperatures may differ (sometimes considerably) from the temperatures at your county's station, as it does at my house. You may find your average temperatures still a bit warmer or a bit colder fairly consistently. My average last frost date is March 27th but we often have about one frost a week up through May 3rd or 4th so I always have to be prepared to cover up plants on those nights when they occur. Last year was unique for much of the state in that our last freezing temperature and last frost both were very early and we could plant earlier than usual. This year's weather is entirely different. Remember, too, when you look at recorded low temperatures and the averages derived from them, that they are recorded at 5' above ground level. In the garden, you'll have plants down at ground level. Since cold air sinks, your plants at ground level may be exposed to colder air than the thermometer 5' above ground. When in doubt at planting time, it is always better to wait a few more days until you feel the weather has stabilized. This year, more than most, we're on a roller coaster ride with temperatures going up and down a lot in recent weeks. On a really practical basis, all I have to do is watch my pecan tree. About 80 to 90% of the time, once the pecan tree starts leafing out, we've had our last killing freeze. Mesquite trees here are reliable last freeze prognosticators in the same way. Anyone in OK can find their county's specific last freeze date on the OCS Quick Climate Facts page for their county. If you want more detail, go to your county's multi-page and more detailed Climate Information Summary and it will show you more detailed last freeze and killing freeze data as well as a lot of other climate-related info. I've linked the OCS page below. Just click on your county and then choose between the shorter document or the more detailed one. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: OCS County Climate Summaries

shades, I have a dolly (no straps tho) but I still couldn't move things. could maybe stack a few smaller boxes on it. jed has some stretch bands? with hooks on the ends that he uses. I actually have 2 small ones like his. should buy longer ones. yes, I have different people say they'll come do stuff - but then something happens and they don't show up. I've been trying for over 3 wks to get new front tires. my mechanic said he'd get some for me and put on. then stuff happened at his shop (to do with wind storms here), after that his elderly mother needed help up in phx... I had a test scheduled and had to cxl it! he got here and took wheels off to have tires put on... then many days later on NYE day he made it here and put wheels on front. and left. about 2 hrs later I got in car to go to store and heard horrible noise when backing the car up. couldn't go anywhere. he finally made it back here on sat. Tires were wrong size. too big and were hitting the struts. He put those on the back and my back tires on the front so I could at least go to the store. he's coming back tomorrow to take car to the tire shop to have them changed and rotated back. good grief! that something so normally simple would be such a bear to get done. this has also had me stranded in my own house for days. I wanted to get out and pick up take out from local Mexican rest. - tired of my own 'cooking' - lol! (finally got my 'dinner' today!) Then Jed over watered my plants last sunday and ran me out of water - but I didn't know it... had to shut down the pump til more water could be delieved - on Wednesday! (that was today and I now have water again). just thinking of these things tires me... oh, and in between these things my son landed himself in the hospital in the Midwest with a blood infection. been in there 5 days, has something connected to him/in him by his heart. could have died / or lost his leg. will be able to go home (info from dd) but will need to return to hospital every day for 10 days to have more antibiotics put in whatever that 'thing' is attached to him. he says it's called cellulitis (what he has). I would have guessed that meant he had cellulite - he's way too thin and fit for that! And with my fibro I've been sleeping a ton again. and cold, damp weather outside here - that doesn't help. I hope anyone reading this survived...