Nick, thanks for the good wishes. In the Minneapolis area yesterday about 10 am, it was minus 11F; about 5:30 pm, it was minus 14F. Luckily, this far North, we have all our orchids inside or in a greenhouse from mid- to late October or so, so no back and forth, covering plants, etc. Non-orchid-wise, doing stuff outside can be a hassle, but the roads are always clear, except if we're in the middle of a heavy snow, when it can get slippery. On the other hand... Arkansas ice storms are dangerous. The one time in the last almost 30 years the Twin Cities had an Arkansas-type ice storm, bus service stopped, the Post Office stopped, the U of MN stopped, government offices stopped, plus all businesses - total standstill. People had been giving me grief for being a pansy weather gal from Arkansas. Hah! During the ice storm, I told them THIS is what we get several times a year in the Northern part of Arkansas, AND we have steep hills all over the place, unlike most of the Twin Cities. Their jaws dropped in proper respect, and my cred was *made.* Arkansas pansy no more! I hope you all in the more ambiguous weather zones are making it okay.

Hey Jojo!!!!! I am so happy to see you back! As for the citrus, they shut down once the root temps in pots drop below the 55 degree mark. So If I want to keep them actively growing the best possible way, I MUST keep them above those temps to continue to produce healthy rich green leaves and avoid stressing them. They will survive, but will behave very badly as all citrus do up here in my region in pots exposed to temps that cold. That is why even the nurseries here refuse to let theirs sit out when temps drop that much. Once it gets way to cold to even keep them in my greenhouse, I will bring them in with room temps hovering around 50 but never above the 60;s and they are just put on hold. They stay green and keep the fruit. They may not grow much, but I also avoid leaf drop and many other stress related issues. If I want to keep them actively growing all winter, then I give them sun and artificial light well over 12 hours in room temps higher than the 60's and they thrive once again continually growing and taking up nutrients. If I lower the sunlight level to less than that in rooms that warm, they dramatically drop their leaves, loos their rich greeness and invite pests. If I provide sunlight levels to lets say just a south facing window through the winter or less, then they can handle regular house room temps without drawbacks, but if they are in windows that can not provide as much sun as a south facing one, then they MUST be in a much cooler room and stay that way until I am ready for active growth again come the spring. As you can tell, it took me many years to accomplish this and many years to understand my citrus trees react the way they do in CONTAINERS and how to avoid very stressful situations on them. So far so good! Yes I may not kill them, right away that is, but they will produce poorly and not live up to my standards. Now if they were in the ground, then that is a whole different story! I would care less if we had many frigid nights knowing that the ground temps will not coll off as fast as a mix in pots no matter what size. I have a friend that lives in Daytona Florida whom gets lots of freezes, and as much as he will loose some branches and leaves, he never looses the whole tree because the ground stays much warmer than his potted ones. Those have to go in for him. Ok, I am all breathed out..lol Jojo, WELCOME BACK! Maybe we can have a bit more fun around here. Mike

16 degrees in this yard. Lots of damage. Ice was too heavy. Eucs are freezer fried. Praying many plants come back from trunk or roots when it warms up. Had some other zonally challenged plants that are now dark brown and withering. Every night lately has gone below freezing. Always ice in bird baths. Heavy frost every morning. Cold out in daytime. Plants don't like this after the arctic blast. Evergreens are browner. Just an icky time of year. Going to be pruning a lot today, all the willows. Have to get a bucket truck service to take the snapped shredded branches off the top of the giant curly willow. The rest will be done today with ladders and pole pruners and hand pruners. Times like this I'm glad I overplanted because I've lost so many trees. Have 3 Oregon myrtles, now 3 years in ground but still small, that I'll be transplanting from the back south fence area, now too shady, to spots where other trees croaked.

They won't die. And ice on the leaves won't hurt them. If it gets cold enough, the new growth might be damaged. I've had this happen in past springs when it got really cold (in the teens) after a long warm spell. The roses have secondary bud eyes which will then grow. If you have just a few roses, you can put a tarp on them overnight. If the bud union on your grafted roses is exposed to air, it's a good idea to keep it covered with dirt or mulch for now. I don't think it's going to get that cold, but, since this is Colorado, you just never know. I'm not putting anything on mine - but I have way too many to cover. I'm not worried about them.