Definitely cover cuphea and nicotiana

I was in Florida for about a week and family back here said it was in the 70's and 80's here. I came back and the trees (some )had leaves and the grass wasa foot and a half tall and thick, I had a hard time in the lower yard it was so thick and green. Well, the other night ( Monday?) ruined the leaves on a bunch of Quercus Rubra and one Q Shumardii The Q Nuttallii came close but are holding back their leaves enough to avoid this crap. The white oak family oaks were conservative and weren't fooled. The 2 chestnut oaks are getting restless and are close to leafing out, though. The Willow oaks I have look really bad. The 2 ft tall one has blackened leaves. It looked good before the cold snap. After seeing them in Florida and how the leaves ( not form) look like live oak, I want at least 2 in my yard. My Quercus fusiformis looks totally great after this winter. My Q Virginiana are bare now, but I think they are okay, this winter was no test for them anyway. Long story short I hope my oaks that had their first set of leaves ruined bounce back, the same for others trees.

I used every blanket, flannel sheet and mattress pad in the house to cover all my tender hydrangeas today. It's not paranoid to want them to be ok when the little guys have been putting on blooms for a couple weeks now. It was down to about 35 last night here in west Texas and it snowed today. SO I ran out and covered them all. It's supposed to be down to nearly 20 tonight, hard to imagine, when the Farmers Almanac said 23 March was our last frost date. Shoot! I hope that I covered them enough. I watered a little yesterday and that should help some. Cheryl

Well, we got a good freeze last night. I hate to see the plants die but I'm hoping my allergies will appreciate it. Christie, I'll have to try rooting them in water (another year). I dont eat peppers at all but my son cant get enough of them. He makes such hot stuff that I've actually had asthma attacks when he cooks them. This year I told him he had to cook them elsewhere..haha I'm still very pleased that he has an interest in gardening. It was just a few short years ago that he thought I was torturing him when I'd ask him to help me with gardening. It was so cute to see his 18 mo old lil boy wanting to get in the pepper garden and help his daddy harvest :) Sandy, you're lucky to have a greenhouse. What a wonderful idea to make a cold frame from old windows. Did you make walls and roof or just lay them flat over a raised bed? Helen, am I understanding you correctly...you just took cuttings of the sp vine and put it dry into a shoebox over the winter? In the spring did you then plant it dirrectly or root it in water? Wow, if that works...what a wonderful savings of space and all the fussing you do to keep plants alive all winter. I've dug caladiums in the past. I put them with some peat and in a loose plastic bag in a cool place. A couple dried out but the majority did well the next year. I didnt harvest as many flower seeds as I had planned to. The marigolds still look pretty in the tomato bed. I dont know how much they kept the bugs away this year but I love how they brighten up that part of the year. Did the rest of you get a hard freeze?