We had colder weather here today and yesterday than we did on Monday. Monday morning's low was 49, but yesterday and today it got down to 45 degrees, and in certain spots in my yard it is 3 or 4 degrees colder, and so I do not put anything sensitive there. I keep orchids outside all winter, and they are doing okay, but they are in the warmest part of the back yard and are semi-protected. I have basil and tomato plants in pots next to the house, and they are doing well. I seem to get more tomatoes in the winter than I do in the summer. None of my Kalanchoes have ever gotten damaged, and I have some of the in the coldest parts of the yard. The heliconias never get damaged either.

Weather reports are extremely wierd. Bakersfield low supposedly 40, but nearby Shafter, 33 and Delano, 32. Go figure. There are no micro climates here. It's one big flat valley. If it did get down around freezing, I'd like to dispell one myth about Pothos. I haven't brought them in because they are hanging vines and I don't have anywhere to hang them inside. But despite the cold, they seem healthy as ever. I accidentally cut a chunk off while pruning away some browned leaves about 3 weeks ago and replanted that chunk. It too, is doing healthy as ever. Pothos can without doubt, tolerate temps down into the 30s.

Martin, I know that 22 degrees is not cold by your standards. However, it is pretty cold for us here in zone 9. At least your winter temperatures stays cold and doesn't vary quite as much as ours. Here our winter time temperatures can vary from cold to hot.....and can go thru several such warm/cool cycles during the winter. Because of this temperature cycling, our in-ground trees cannot go as deeply dormant as yours. Our "fluctuating" winter temperatures is really tough on some fruit trees. I know that I am going against all conventional wisdom of when to plant fig trees in the ground. But I live in zone 9 where the temperatures do not stay below freezing for very long.....at least in most years. There is a BIG BIG advantage to getting fig Starts into the ground ASAP. They will produce figs at least a year earlier than if I waited to plant the containerized tree the following season as is the conventional practice. Since I do my own rooting, I can choose the optimum time to root my sticks for in ground planting. Also, I already know that my Starts will not have RKN.....so I take advantage of all of these special conditions. The reason why I have adapted this approach to planting a hardened-off Start right away in the ground is because the new tree should develop a very good,spreading root system much faster. Starts planted in the ground ASAP do not have enough time for the roots to encircle the pot or form a root ball like they would if left in the pot/container until the following year. I planted quite a few other fig Starts ASAP in early Spring and some have grown extremely well through the Summer. Those young trees developed sufficiently large enough where I did not feel the need to provide any winter protection for them. I'll find out for sure in the Spring if my hunch was right. We only get a couple of freezes per year in my area so I want to take advantage of that fact. It is no trouble at all for me to get out the bricks and 5 gallons buckets when we do have a freeze in the forecast. I would not recommend this approach to in-ground planting in lower climate zones.....however, I'm highly confident that this strategy will work quite well for zones 9 and 10.....I'll know for sure next spring. I am very pleased with the results that I have seen thus far. Dan

I live just inland from Cairns. We had major frosts a couple of weeks ago. My thermometer is situated 2m off the ground and under an overhang of the house, so it didnt record the coldest temperatures that others did. All the grass and many garden plants and trees have died from the frost. Some of the tropical plants have succumbed incredibly from the sudden cold weather we had. As you may have heard, places received down to -10 degrees on the Atherton Tablelands. We, where I'm living recorded closer to 1 degree on a couple of mornings with other mornings also recording 2-5 a few times. It is still mild with only last Tuesday morning we recorded 6 and two nights ago 5.4. As mentioned my thermometer is situated 2m above the ground and within a sheltered site, none of my plants located near the thermometer were at all affected by the cold however outside without the roof/awning of the house to protect them, they were scorched. Many Spathodea's 20m tall had their crowns burnt, Large mature Schefflera actinophylla's lost all their leaves, a Schefflera bractescens up the road seems to have died all together. Many restoration plantings in the area have been dealt a serious blow (frost). I have seen mature Elaeocarpus grandis, 20m tall killed by the frost. There is a planting of over 2000 Blue Quandongs, for timber, just up the road from here. They all were standing proud at about 3-5 m tall and at least 75% of them have been totally killed by the frost. There is a frost band where all of the plants died and then another band on the highest side of the planting where they have mostly survived. There are mature Wodyetia which have all their leaves burnt to black however seem green in the centre's. Mature Coconuts in Malanda seem to be fine- surprisingly. Mature Cyathea cooperi's growing along the creeks on the tablelands - have no leaves left...this is predictable though. I was in Cairns a couple of weeks ago, doing some work on a hillside and looked at the ground to notice the Praxelis clematidea had brown leaves as a result of the cold...I was standing at 60m asl at the most. I was staying at the Daintree village the night of the worst frost and a local told us that it had got down to 6 degrees that morning. A friend at Whyanbeel, just north of Mossman recorded cold (not frost) damage there. Trees which are very susceptible to frost: at least up here. Elaeocarpus grandis, Ficus septica, Ficus hispida, Delonix regia, Cassia javanica, Acmenosperma claviflorum, Homalanthus novo-guineensis, Alphitonia petrei, Cyathea cooperi, Schinus molle, Syzygium malaccense, Alocasia macrorhiza (exotic one), Pandanus species- especially oceanic species, Spathodea campanulata, Scindapsus, Pawpaw, Banana's, Dracaena fragrans, Allamanda cathartica, Euphorbia pulcherimma........Duranta had burnt tips and the ground covering Lantana totally died (possibly a good thing). There are lots of species I have seen with burnt leaves.and also alot...