Hi I really have never gardened anywhere BUT zone 10 ?? Do have a bit of experience with light frost and a couple of hard freezes over the years . I grow mostly tropicals for this reason. If a plant is adapted to cold temps it usually MUSt have them . Eventually it will decline though sometimes it may take a couple of years . i can grow some temperate plants but mostly as winter annuals.. Much depends on night time lows ,humidity Generally I've found that Tropicals are far more tolerant of cold than temperates are to heat though. Some good examples Agapanthus ,Hydrandea ,High altitude orchids almost all temperate fruit trees Bearded Iris tulips daffodils, and most other spring bulbs gary

I doubt if wood boards will significantly slow a rat if it wants to get in. Rats can gnaw through metal, so wood isn't much of a deterrent. I had some kind of animal get in my compost late fall/early winter last year, so I just emptied the bin onto the garden and decided I was going to call it a lasagna bed.

Ok now I'm really getting confused. There are no indications of frost damage whatsoever in the photos. The plants are clearly anemic. But given the mixed info given there is no sure way to tell why. First, why in zone 5 are these tiny young plants already buried in deep mulch. Far too early as the ground hasn't sufficiently warmed up yet, especially for squash, and cool soil temps can cause nutrient uptake problems. Plus you need to pull the mulch back to a 4-6" circle around the plants until they are well established. All that high carbon mulch is further leaching nitrogen from the plants not to mention encouraging pests. Second, "garden soil enriched with well rotted compost, pure alfalfa pellets, dried chicken feathers and a little lime to counteract our alkaline soil" could easily be NOT "rich" soil since there are minimal if any nutrients in it for the plants. Decomposition takes time - lots of time - and is wholly dependent on soil bacteria activity and soil temps. Third, one should never play around with either lime or sulfa (BIG difference between the two) without absolute knowledge of their soil pH. Doing so only creates further nutrient problems. Fourth, define "well-watered" please. Unfortunately to many new gardeners that often means daily. Which is usually drowning them. IMO your plants need to be UN-mulched for a couple of weeks and fed some form of readily available nutrients and your soil needs to be professionally tested so you know what you are actually working with. Dave

Under the oaks- GOOD for you! These things come out of tc's. A fella in the US sees a wide version show up when tc-ing the narrow version of halcyon. So does a fella in Europe. Each fella gives them a name. Are they the same...possibly...or not. Then they each send THOSE wider versions out to tc. Unless the grower grows those for a few years to see if they are true to type, and are growing with wider margins, you don't know what the heck you have. Add to that the different growing conditions in each garden in differing zones... CONFUSING! No one these days waits the 3-5 years (or more) it takes for a hosta to show it's full potential, they hit the retail market right away, guessing at the eventual size, and behavior. Good that you bought Autumn Frost. I have two of them because I would be heartbroken to lose them to bugs or whatever. Such is the life of a hostaholic. -Babka