I have a house that is attached to the west side of my current house that I would like to turn into a GH/sunroom but am having some problems in determining the materials I should use in my climate to complete this. What is even more frustrating is the fact that the house was bullt back in the 1900's so I have to start at square one. For me, the temps run from 110F in the summer to -40F in the winter so a lot of materials don't seem top want to hold up as well as they should. One thing in particular that I would like to ask is could I remove the outer wall without disturbing the inner studs, install a Lexan sheet in lieu of a window, frame it so that the Lexan can still expand without distortion and to prevent an air-leak to the inner room?

That's a loaded question. It depends on your latitude, whether there are clouds that night, soil temperature, wind (try to shelter it), location (south-facing is best). Only a thermometer will tell you, and the difference will vary with time of year. Also, what type of film? If using plastic, I recommend 6 mil. Is there wood in your cold frame construction or all plastic? A cold frame with lumber as some of the walls will hold more heat at night. With only plastic and PVC, it's more similar to a low tunnel than a real cold frame. Will 50 F outside fry them? If it's sunny and February, yes definitely. It may rise into the 90s or higher inside. If it's December and dark and cloudy, leave it closed. If it's the type of cloudy day that's still bright, open it a bit. Only experience with your setup can tell you exactly how much to open for a situation. At night you will get anywhere from 2 to 12 degrees F of moderation but this really depends on the factors I listed, and more. A low tunnel type of setup gets much colder than a traditional cold frame. You can improve heat retention by another 2-6 degrees by tossing a heavyweight floating row cover fabric or blanket over the whole frame at night. Lastly, don't grow any warm season crops in your cold frame in winter. You probably knew that. For cool season crops, freeze protection is not vital but the bigger the moderation, the more vigorous they will be and the longer they'll survive. They'll easily take 20 F and well below now and then, but if that's *every* night with no recovery in day temps. to at least the 50s, you'll start to see damage. The amount of moderation you get increases with lowering outside temp. If it's 10 F, and you have a blanket-covered, wood-framed cold frame in a sheltered spot, it might be 25 F or higher inside. Possibly. If it's just single layer plastic all around in an exposed place, it might get down to 12 F inside. Do not mulch the soil in fall. Although mulch conserves soil warmth, that very factor leads to very cold air pooling above the mulch on clear nights.

You're a bit colder up there in zones 5/6, while I'm here in 7a/b along the Jersey shore, and I'll have to look into this and will be interested in other posts, but will dive on in ... First of all, I'm wondering why your daylilies are in pots rather than in the ground. I'm far from an expert on them, but have several varieties and have found them to be quite tough and adaptable. I do think it likely that it wasn't extreme cold but alternate freezing/thawing, which is more likely to occur in a pot than in the ground, that was responsible for your daylily losses. If you must keep them in pots (perhaps you use them in planters in the summer?), then perhaps you could sink those pots into the ground in winter (just be sure they have adequete - but not too much - water). Since the roots are frequently sold in a rather dry, dormant state, I would imagine another means of overwintering would be to treat them like the tubers/rhizomes/corms of tender plants like dahlia or gladiolus: allow to go dormant and store in a cool but above-freezing location like a cold cellar or attached garage. Interesting idea to convert the kennel, but I'm afraid you'd find that would heat up considerably on sunny days, then cool down rapidly at night ... making for another freeze/thaw problem. Diane

Chipmunks are good eatin' according to most local cats. Early on, when we came back to the farm to work on the house after a long cold winter, an extended cat family had been dumped here. The mother cat, (#2, she tried harder) and her sister (who earned the name #1) stayed with us (as did the cat who became known as Idiot son of #2). #1 was a hunter and one day we watched her bring a still alive chipmunk to her sister (#2); her sister downed it quickly. One neighbor, about a mile away has a major chipmunk and squirrel problem. He hates cats and his wife won't have an outdoor cat. So, they have rodents. Elf cat (number 11 who came later) used be be a good vole cat, but when she got older (14) she became a pensioner, and now it takes a prybar to get her away from the woodstove. The dawg does eat voles and moles right now, and we have some black snakes who work the mole runs. Winter is giving us rain. So far this month, seven+ inches. The ground is sodden. This may be a major help in keeping trees alive. But IF we had mulched around the rose canes, the rain plus the temps in the 60s at the surface would be a disaster for canker. Our lowest temps so far are just below 10F and the Chinas and Noisettes are holding on to their latest season leaves. The teas have dropped their leaves. It's nice to view from afar, right now, knowing that I don't 'have' to do anything right now. Now that the minutes of daylight are getting longer, I wonder if that's going to be the reason that Cherokee Rose will start to set bloom buds.