kills molds, bugs, etc

Good point posierosie. For example our warming climate seems to have aided in the wider spread of the tick causing Lyme's Disease. (Hopefully this winter will set it back a notch or two)

It will be an extremely lush growing season here 'cause I'm gonna order every danged plant that Bluestone offers if this cold doesn't break soon. SAD anyone?

I think there is some basis behind the snowy winter producing a lush spring. Snow absorbs nitrates and as it melts releases it into the soil. The soil has to be thawed of course, otherwise it's just runoff.

So far I've been able to avoid clicking the buy button... but in another few weeks :)

snow- poor man's fertilizer

Interesting about snow!

Yes, Lyme disease is spreading here - I'm not shedding a tear for those mites.

I don't know, but in my limited experience I would say it isn't a cold winter as much as a snowy winter. My mom just told me about the Poor Man's Fertilizer, nitrogen fixed by snow, which surprised me. In addition the snow protects everything from swinging temps, frost heaves (I thought), frigid cold spells (like now), and more. Unfortunately, it also protects bugs, too. But, a big factor in tick populations is the health of its hosts. The ticks are born free of the Lyme spirochete, and only become hosts when they bite infected mice, sometimes birds. When the mice are happy, the ticks are happy. We recently had a banner year for acorns. There were acorns everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Like ball bearings. I couldn't walk in some areas without slipping around like a Looney Tunes Cartoon. The mice had so much food they probably woke up after hibernating still obese. Lots of mice=lots of ticks.

Right now many of us are having a cold winter. Cold actually doesn't do it justice. We're having an upper Canadian winter. But, we also have lots of snow on the ground. Either way--cold winter, snowy winter--next summer is looking good!

I figured all the snow makes for a lush spring due to the melt = moisture.

After previous mild winters, the mollusc population was apocalyptic...so yeah, good killing freeze would be welcome.

Now, if these really cold temps would kill off a majority of those Japanese beetles, that WOULD be something, I can only dream ; )

Sherry

I am concerned about the future survivability of our potted perennials which are stored each Fall in an unheated but insulated garage. But this past week or more I have seen temperatures reach -16 C (3 F) in the garage (-24 C beyond the doors). I would think such prolonged low temps would be deadly for most all container bound plants :( ?

Im having same concerns...only time will tell.

I would think such prolonged low temps would be deadly for most all container bound plants.

Not if they're stored properly and the plants are hardy for your zone. Frozen is frozen, what's the difference how cold it is. You need to keep them frozen as best you can and keep the moisture off the surface to avoid freeze-thaw cycles; if above-freezing temps occur for a couple days the thaw process will start -- the freeze-thaw of the ice build up on surface can do them in. As long as they don't break dormancy, they should be fine -- a couple days above freezing isn't enough to cause them to break dormancy, and if they subsequently re-freeze, it shouldn't harm them; think about what happens to plants in the ground -- same principle. I've been winter-storing plants for as long as I can remember...

My concerns are due to container size...I have a variety of sizes.

I peeked under the snow laying on top of my boxwood hedge borders, doesn't look too pretty i.e. brownish. Some say leave the snow on, others to periodically remove it. I've done both in past winters and don't see much difference. I imagine things will look ugly until I trim in late April or May.

Frozen in the ground and frozen in a container are two very different sets of circumstances!! And I would caution about just assuming that if container plants are hardy enough for your zone, they will overwinter successfully outside in freezing temps.

Plant roots tend to be more vulnerable to cold temps than top growth. If top growth is damaged by cold, it will typically grow back. If roots are damaged by cold, all bets are off!! And in a container, roots are far more exposed to substantially colder air temps than they would be in the ground - even frozen - and far more prone to cold damage that could very well prove fatal. That's why you will typically see a "rule of thumb" that cautions using plants with at least a two zone lower hardiness range for a permanent, overwintering container. And even that is no guarantee :-)) Even in my very mild winter climate, I need to occasionally protect my potted JM's from the now and again Arctic blast that will drop temps into the low 20's or even teens.

As to a cold winter providing a more vibrant and luxurious growing season, not sure I can agree with that concept :-) 'Cold' winters like many of you realize just do not occur in my area and yet we have a very lush and robust growing season.

Not if they're stored properly and the plants are hardy for your zone. Frozen is frozen, what's the difference how cold it is.

I guess I am not sure what "stored properly" really means. I just move my potted perennials into the insulated but unheated garage after giving them a thorough watering. (I try but I can't fit all the pots off the concrete floor).

I have no doubt that, for example, our potted Butterfly Bush will be less likely to make it through temps of -16 C in the garage than say the usual -6 C.

At least these plants are out of the wind.

Frozen ground soil is right around 32F/0C, not much lower. And can be even warmer at a greater depth. Because containers are exposed to air temps on all sides, they can get significantly colder.....easily into the low 20's and teens that can cause irreversible root damage. Ideally, container plants should be overwintered where they are not exposed to temps much below the mid 20's (somewhere around -4C) nor much above 40F.

I have a unheated, though well insulated attached garage where I store all sorts of hardy and semi tender plants. When the outdoor temperature plummets to a bitter -30 C (-22F) and l-o-w-e-r here on the Canadian prairie, the minimum temp I've recorded in the garage was -10 C (+14 F) ... okay, that's the temp in which I had decided best to turn on a small heater to prevent it from becoming even colder in there. The more tender plants I tuck up against the warm wall that is shared with the house and upon these containers I'll toss a very deep layer of blankets, thus no freezing occurs to the plants. As for potted buddleia, these have fared well in the -10 C temps when sunk deeply into the middle of other very large containers of loose friable soil, thus providing both the crown and roots with additional insulation. Rouge, I have my hopes for your buddleia plants, though -16 C might prove a bit much, later please let us know!

As to the great outdoors ... of course, snow provides very good protection from cold and frost penetrating the ground. Snow often arrives at my location before the earth has frozen to any real depth, thus little soil freezing actually occurs, so come spring, I often have potatoes and glads that vigorously sprout from tubers/corms that had been missed upon harvest. BUT, when we receive little to no snow, as in the case of this year, frost goes down deeply, sometimes to 3 ft and more! During these bitter and snowless conditions, that extreme cold is not immediately negated just below the surface ... but, rather, the cold is lessened and modified the greater depth in which it penetrates the earth. Matters will be different scenario in milder regions that do not experience prolonged bitter cold snaps.

My post did refer to stored potted plants - I thought everyone would know that meant in an unheated garage/shed/barn, but I suppose I should clarify here that's what I meant. I still think it's primarily the crown freeze/thaw/refreeze that does them in rather than the actual cold, but that is anecdotal. Well, that and trying to over-winter zone inappropriate plants in an unheated location.

Rouge - sounds like you're storing just fine :0)

Gardengal, you're post is so clear. Thanks for teaching me something. Our garage is unheated, but very well insulated. The addition of a freezer and extra refrigerator spewing warm exhuast all winter helps keep the temps up, as well. Even in our current bitter bitter cold we are not having any liquids freeze solid, although some things are starting to get slushly ice inside. We've had seven straight days with single digit highs, negative lows, the lowest low being -15, with more similar days after that following a two-day warming into double digits. Storing containers in the garage has been a daunting thought for me, but this info gives me some confidence.

For anybody interested, the following site gives past weather data back to 2009 by zip code. Don't know if it works in Canada.

Access past weather data

If you really pay attention to the zone maps, those are some pretty cold average temps! So plant hardiness most definitely plays a role here.... Honestly, don't over-think this - there's no need for it to be daunting.

As for a cold and snowy winter resulting in a floriferous and lush growing season ... I'd say it can be a good start. Having consistent snow cover during times of very cold temps will help lessen the risk of losing any borderline hardy perennials. We had plenty of snow during last winter with little frost in the ground and when the snow melted away, many perennials were showing nice big plump emerging buds. T-h-o-u-g-h, April then turned very wet and snowy and the soil became soggy saturated for a prolonged period and some of those plants just ended up completely rotting out, even in nicely raised beds. We then pretty much couldn't buy a good soaking rain during the growing season and I'd have to say that things had suffered and lagged despite my attempts at watering. Just the same it was a good summer, I prefer things a bit on the dry side, rather than experiencing daily heavy soaking rains!

I grow garlic in large containers against the side of my house, and I am not in the least bit worried about the current weather conditions affecting them. Certainly, they have a nice layer of insulating snow that has sat there for quite a while now. And in when I consider the long prolonged cold of 2014 and 2015 winters, which had much less snow cover I think? Interestingly, I'm quite zen about this season as a whole - my plants will be fine.