Patty I am sorry to hear your summer has been so cold. Here in Ohio we have had temps in the high 60's to low 70's for the last two weeks. The usual temps are high 80's to low 90's. We have a saying here that "It will be a cold day in July" meaning the same as a cold day in Hades. But unfortunately the saying fit the weather. I went to Kelly's Island on Lake Erie about a week ago and was surprised to see some May blooming flowers in bloom. Many of my September plants are putting out blooms. The clematis bush for one, and some of my evergreens are just starting to put out new growth now instead of May. Also none of my toad eggs hatched this year which I blame on the cold nights. Very strange weather year. Regards, Lisa

If you have a tarp or plastic paint protection sheet, I would probably cover my containers with them. Or get Sterlite/Rubbermaid containers with lids (the large, rectangular ones) and place the containers inside them-- cover them at night, leave them uncovered when it is warm and sunny. My seedlings (AND the ones I'd planted out already) survived the weather early this week of 14 degree Farenheit windchills, snow, and nights down to about 25. They should no stress what so ever. I left the planted out seedlings uncovered. The ones in containers, I had in Sterlite containers with the lids on at night. They all got snowed on in the day. Chances are all the plants are hardier than you think. (but I still don't know how the buds on my Hydrangea faired all the weather we had this week). Linda

just plant them .... the ground is not going to freeze in zone 5 [unless another ice age sneaks up on us] .... the roots will remain temperate ... perhaps you are confusing a frost or above ground freeze with soil freeze .... its just not going to happen in zone 5 in april .... presuming they are dormant .... meaning the buds are still tight and small ....you are not dealing with foo foo plants here ... these are extremely hardy trees ... just get them into mother earth and let her take care of them ... if the buds have broken and extended .. then a very heavy frost could damage them .... i might take a 5 gal pot... fill with some native soil .... and insert the whole bunch at once.. and hold them over in a garage .... for a week or two ... not too much water ... but damp .. same with the tsuga candensis .... put them in a wagon and pull them into the garage at night... otherwise outdoors during the day ... but not in the sun, as small pots can get too hot in the sun ... your timing is perfect for zone 5 ... dont worry too much about them ... however when dealing in bulk .. expect to lose one or two ... nobody and no plant is perfect in volume ... the most important thing is to get them into mother earth and let her take care of them .... either plant them ASAP .. or 'heal' them in and do so quickly .... good luck ken

CAthy, I'm happy as long as the tank heater is keeping up, I HATE chopping ice from the tank. Actually, chopping it isn't the bad part, it's dipping the ice chunks out with a hay fork, I always get wet, and it's cold. Ugh. Hate that..... Wind chill factors of 20 to 30 below zero ought to tell me, I've made a wooden cover for the stock tank with a hole just big enough for the animals to put their heads through, I'm hoping it helps, at least enough to keep the tank unfrozen. We set a bale this afternoon, a big round bale will last 3-4 days, so hopefully it'll last until Wednesday morning, when it breaks a little and will be back up to a high of 17, and no below zero temps. I can do everything else manually, but the tractor doesn't always want to start when it's that cold and I need the tractor to move those big bales. As for school, they will probably not have school Monday or Tuesday, we have so many rural students that ride busses and it's just not safe to have small children out in that weather. When it hits zero they are not allowed to go outside for recess and when it's colder, they eventually give up and close school. Annie