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.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA 414 PM PST MON DEC 5 2005 ...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM PST TUESDAY.. A FREEZE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TUESDAY MORNING FOR THE SACRAMENTO AND NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEYS. A COLD AIRMASS IN PLACE OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COMBINED WITH CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS NEAR MORNING WILL PRODUCE FREEZING TEMPERATURES. OVERNIGHT MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM 25 TO 28 DEGREES OVER MUCH OF THE AREA WITH BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES OCCURRING FOR 4 HOURS OR MORE. CAZ015>017-019-060815- /O.NEW.KSTO.FZ.W.0001.051206T1100Z-051206T1600Z/ NORTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY-CENTRAL SACRAMENTO VALLEY- SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO VALLEY-NORTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- 414 PM PST MON DEC 5 2005 ...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM PST TUESDAY.. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A FREEZE WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM PST TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER TO THE MID AND UPPER 20S WITH TEMPERATURES REMAINING BELOW FREEZING FOR 4 HOURS OR MORE. A FREEZE WARNING MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. THESE CONDITIONS WILL KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION. PROTECT EXPOSED WATER PIPES TO KEEP THEM FROM FREEZING. $$ Brenda

I had carried lots of plants inside and into the garage, and covered flowers and vegies. Hubby said in the morning there was frost on some of the low-lying covers, but I could not observe any signs of frost having occurred in the yard. Except the morning glories don't look quite as perky as normal perhaps. But no withered leaves or anything. I am about 8 miles from the lake in northern Racine County, so that probably helped. Have already harvested lots of tomatoes and beans and cucumbers and things, so not many vegies to worry about. Mostly I was covering up various flowers (those darn dahlias are finally blooming) and the tomatillos. I planted things so late I have gladiolas blooming right now. About global warming, have you forgotten last year? The first really hard, killed-everything frost that covering did not impede was Nov. 10th! That is freakishly abnormal and extremely late for my area. I was picking beans on Nov. 4th last year, that is weird. This is WI! Marcia

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