Hope you all get to enjoy some fall color. Locally I was able to enjoy stellar but brief coloring. We are about 90% right now. But my yard is about 20% if that. I got 30 and 31 for lows in mid-Sept which didn't do much as it was only for a couple hours. I was hoping the forecast would improve for tonight but its supposed to dip below freezing @ 1am and continue to drop to 24...26 @ 7am, still 30 @ 8am. An 8 hour freeze will surely kill off the leaves on most plants. My Ginkgo are SOOO green right now! 50 day precipitation is 0.7". Haven't seen any decent, yet well below normal, rain since late July and early Aug. In fact mid August is the only 1" or greater rainfall I had since...wait for this one...November 9th 2011. A disgrace. That is 11 months with only one 1" rainfall.

Ann, my understanding of the zones, from an article I read years ago, is that they really only take into account the lowest probable temperature that one might encounter during the course of the winter. It went on to say that this does'nt mean that it's the lowest POSSIBLE temperature, since we obviously get the occasional night or two when it goes below the "zone low" temp. It also mentions that not every night during winter will go down to the temperature range for the zone (for example here in zone 6, not every night will be between 0 and -10). It would be considered normal for zone 6 to get no more than perhaps 10 - 12 nights during one winter where it will get down to those temperatures, but if those 10 - 15 nights occurred consecutively, that would be considered not normal. And the main problem with the zone approach is that it doesn't take into account how long the temperature remains at these lows, nor how it recovers by day, which really makes all the difference. We've had a very mild winter so far, and if I went strictly by overnight lows, then I'm in zone 8 (!) but the daytime highs here, although very pleasant, are nowhere near as warm as a true zone 8 would be. And a low of 24 for instance here can last many, many hours, while in a true zone 8 it may only last for a couple of hours before dawn, and then the daytime temperature may climb to the 50's or 60's, whereas here the daytime high may slowly climb to the upper 30's. Just and example, but I think you can see what I mean. But, having said all this, I always remember that plants can't read zone maps (!) so if I think something I like has a chance, even if I have to site it, protect and pamper it, then I'll give it a try. Why not? Makes interesting gardening and maybe I'll discover that the books were wrong about a plant's zone rating. That's what happened with Clerodendron trichotomum. I always see it rated for zone 7, but mine has been growing and blooming happily here for over 20 years, and it's at the windy, northwest corner of (but not close to) the house.

You turn your back on them and they suddenly leap out of nowhere! I went out on the deck as the sun was going down to check on a wind toy, and I saw daffodils in the middle of some junipers! I raced out with the camera to catch the last light (not enough light for a good closeup): N. 'Jetfire' and Juniper 'Gray Owls' And on the way back into the house I looked at a bed from a different angle and saw another daffodil near the house foundation! N. 'Lemon Glow' Claire

Thanks Keith! I'm glad my camellias encouraged you to get some of your own! I would plant it in the ground now only because Camellias can be finicky in pots because they can't dry out too much and they arent really crazy about being indoors. But if you give it really good soil and make sure to water it well then potting it up might be better. If you have an unheated garage that doesnt really get below freezing too much during the winter than you can put it in there. What kind of camellia is it? Once yours gets to be close to the height of the one in my pic (probably by next spring) you can plant it in the groun). Remember they really dont like sun! Thanks Mastiffhoo! The yard is already looking a lot fuller and its only been about 2 weeks since I took these pics so I cant wait to see what another 2 weeks will do! -Alex