You may have a warm microclimate. Keep a couple of things in mind: First, one night in early May about 5 or6 years ago, when our forecast overnight low was 50 degrees, we went to 32 degrees and most of my plants, which were roughly waist-high at that point, died. I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing that never would happen again, and it hasn't happened again....at our house. However, the very next year an almost identical thing happened to George in Tahlequah although I think it happened to him in early or mid-April. I remember it well because he lost his Baker Family Heirloom tomato plants, and Carol, with whom George had shared seeds, had grown some of them and had extra Baker Family Heirloom plants to give back to him at the spring plant swap to replace his dead plants. So, the moral of the story is: forecasts can be very wrong sometimes! Who would ever have thought a forecast could be off by 18 degrees? So, take your forecast with a grain of salt. Remember too, when temperatures are recorded at official recording stations, they are recorded at 5' above ground. Your plants are at the ground level and a foot or two above it. So, when they say 38 or 39, expect it may be a couple of degrees cooler at a foot above ground level, for example. You could check your weather online first thing in the morning and see the official overnight low was 38 and then could walk outside and find damaged or dead plants. So, watch carefully and if your temperature drops a lot between 5 and 8 p.m., run out and cover up the plants. I guess that's the best advice I have....if the afternoon and evening cool in a manner that seems too rapid, take the time to cover up the plants. I try to watch how much my temperatures fall between 5-7 pm or 5-8 pm on nights when we might be getting close to freezing. Sometimes they fall so fast that it worries me and I cover up plants even if we are forecast to be in the lower 40s. If the plants are up against the wall of a structure, it likely will absorb heat, which will help them. I don't have any tomato plants in the ground yet, and now have pools of water standing everywhere, but I likely will put tomato plants in the ground sometime this week after the soil dries a little. I always watch my plants and the weather like a hawk once they are in the ground until at least May 5th (because my latest late freeze has occurred on May 4th). Normally, I only have to cover them up once or twice after I put them in the ground and, most of the time, I am covering them up out of an abundance of caution, and awaken to find we stayed warm enough that there was no frost or freeze. If it doubt, better to err on the side of safety and cover them than to spend all of the next day wishing you had. I'm linking the 6-10 day outlook, and the temperatures look nice. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: 6-10 Day Outlook-Temperatures

Thanks you guys! I'm really pleased with Loretta - even under not so ideal conditions she's cranking out the blooms! The flowers are very fragrant and I catch a whiff just walking near the plant. I'm not good with scents but to me it's a little more perfumy than classic plumie scent. How's that for a scientific description? I actually got Loretta as part of Gabby's generous gift when I won a contest she had on the MPG forum! She was so sweet she sent me 4 cuttings instead of the original 2 she was giving away. She sent me Loretta, Gina, Gloria Schmidt (which is also growing an inflo!) and Maui Beauty. The MB didn't make it but all the others are thriving!

Thanks, me too! That photo has a very romantic quality about it. I also love a bunch of the colorful decor on some of the very old fashioned porches. I always wanted a house like that.

Great news! Can't wait to see the finished product. What a relief this must be for you, after all the frustration and delays.