Judith--I had a similar situation last winter. I allowed the newly potted plant to get a bit of winter exposure outside, then in January I brought it inside into a cool greenhouse where I overwinter some tender potted camellias--had to dig through about 4' of snow to get to the daylily pot! It sprang into life after a couple of weeks with the warmer temperatures and supplemented light. Come April, it went into the ground and did just fine this summer. I'll be doing the same thing again this year with a group of seedlings that grew in pots all summer (it got HOT very early this year and I just couldn't find the energy to plant them). No worries. Hope that helps. -eric

I don't think any trunking Yucca would make it here but never tried outside. I may try some of this stuff in another spot and not protect it.....maybe... I would love to give away my Imbricata that fell over! I did protect a Needle palm with a leaf cage once(-18F that winter)it lived and is still here.... The blanket may work well at keeping the moisture of the plant but it's anyone's guess how well a palm would do with no heat in zone 5...long term. Good luck King of spear-pull!(-; Click for weather forecast

Just spent the weekend with my leaf shredder! I have almost 40 trees, mostly oaks, and I am absolutely inundated with leaves every fall. I have a leaf shredder and every year shred as many leaves as a I can manage. I store them till it gets cold (who knows when that will be this year?! Mid-November and 2 days ago it was practically 70!) I wait till the ground is frozen so I don't set up a vole hotel. I mulch around the plants, not over them. This way I don't have to worry about pulling back mulch in spring. There have been years where a bed or two has not been properly raked out, so the whole leaves piled up. In those cases, I have gone out early and pulled back the whole leaves, and usually there is no damage. The problem there IMO is finding the balance between removing the whole, usually very wet leaves so they don't damage plants, and being careful of the usually-present tender new growth underneath, often farther along than the properly mulched beds. It can often be too early to expose that new growth to the still-cold temps. Then I try to throw some shredded leaves around the new growth, and only remove the matted wet leaves from the actual plants, not the whole bed, figuring I'll keep it there till it gets warmer. Hope that didn't confuse everyone! The biggest challenge for me in fall is to shred enough leaves to store them for the spring as well. Like someone above said, by spring the mulch is greatly reduced, and I like to have more to put down. The challenge for me is time - between the oaks, whose leaves fall much later than other trees, and my work schedule, not to mention the early darkness now, I never have enough time to get out there and shred to my heart's content! And if we get an early snowfall, well, that's that! I just think fallen leaves are a wonderful gift from nature, and I love the way they mulch the beds, enrich the soil, and keep the weeds down.

My purple coneflowers & zinnias are just now going out. My hummers are gone and the robins are starting to come in. I am just above you living in the woods next to Fort Rucker. Visit us over on the butterfly forum