Dawn - This is sortof a timely thread now because that time is coming soon (sigh). I have to really think about this for myself too since I have a big pile of new plants this year that need to be established. You might want to try to find very hardy plants rated 1 -2 zones colder than you, which would be a good first step (I list some of mine below that you could grow). There are a couple Zone 5 posters here who will hopefully weigh in. Straw would be good to try (I have packed some young transplants and marginals in pine needles). Pulling the plants against the wall and grouping pots together will help to keep them out of the prevailing winds and will help maintain a more constant temperature around them. You might want to consider some white reflective plastic (rather than clear) to keep the sun away from them in winter, as the south-facing spots still do get sun in winter, whereas in my NE-facing location, I get none in winter. The sun issue is because you want to avoid continual freezes and thaws and sun on plants during mid-winter will trigger that (and can scald the plants). What kind of blueberries do you have? The northern types are usually hardy to your Zone and there have been some bred to Zone 4 like 'Northblue'. But you may want to protect it to keep the branches from dessicating and the container from freezing too much, as they would be considered marginal in a container for you. Believe it or not though, snow is a good insulator and I have used it for my plants against the rail. I have 5 blueberries ('Bluecrop', 'Nelson', 'Elliott', and 2 'Patio'). The strawberries could stay out, although you may want to keep them back out of the weather as often rot from perpetually wet and cold soil can kill them more than any cold. The rosemary isn't going to survive outside and will need to be brought in. The lavender (depending on type) is iffy - even here in my area in the ground, mostly because they like it dry in winter, so you might want to bring that in too. One of my sisters has been babying a lavender growing against the SW corner of her house and it still got some winter damage, but not as bad as when she had it out in a bed in her yard. I have some marginal perennials and shrubs (along with subtropicals) and I have to bring those inside. I generally put them in my bedroom in winter, which I keep cool (low - mid 60 Fs). Otherwise they'll die. I do have a couple high-light subtrops like some habaneros that I have overwintered for 4 years and I usually put those under lights, although I may consider doing something else for some of those. An alternative which I haven't really tried but others have, is to construct a small greenhouse or cold frame that you can vent on warm days and heat on very cold days. You can buy remote temperature probes (I have 3 myself) and place one in the structure to monitor the temp inside. I have some plants reported as hardy to Zone 4 like: Lilac (S. patula 'Miss Kim') Weigela (W. florida 'Red Prince') * Weigela (W. florida 'Wine and Roses') * Orienpet lilies Salvia nemerosa 'May Night' Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora' French pussy willow (S. discolor) Lady fern Monarda didyma 'Jacob Cline' Royal Heritage hellebore % Agastache rupestris Mandarin honeysuckle (L. x mandarin) % Coral honeysuckle (L. sempervirens 'Blache Sandman') Prickly pear cactus (O. humifusa) Clematis (C. viticella 'Prince Charles') Rainbow leucothoe (L. fontansiana 'Girard's Rainbow') * % * = these get winter damage/tip burn even in Zone 7, so Zone is probably more 5 and for the leucothoe, its evergreen leaves need some wind protection % = these are either evergreen or try to stay evergreen (honeysuckle), but can crisp up in cold temps. I also have a new sambucus 'Black Lace' that can reportedly survive to Zone 4 if protected per a thread on the Far North forum. Some of my Zone 2/3s include: Lilac (S. x prestonia 'James McFarlane') Heuchera (Heuchera x brizoides 'Firefly') % Bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) Redosier red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) Variegated red twig dogwood (Cornus alba 'Elegantissima') Hostas (H. albomarginata, etc) Dianthus gratianopolitanus (Cheddar pinks) Sarah Bernhardt peony Tree peony 'Seidei' Daylily ('Pardon Me') Sedum 'Autumn Joy' Siberian columbine (Aquilegia sibirica 'Biedermeier') Asiatic lilies Tiger lilies Lily of the valley Crocuses (spring blooming) Muscari % Mints (peppermint, pineapple mint) % = evergreen or has foliage up in winter None of the above are protected at all and usually stay put where they grow in summer, although I sometimes pull smaller pots back and sit them on or under a table against my wall. I have some Zone 5s like my penstemon 'Sunburst Ruby', blueberries, Methley plum, american wisteria (W. frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'), and Itea virginica 'Little Henry' that I can do similar to. I also have Zone 6/7 marginals (for me) like Beautyberry (C. bodinieri 'Profusion' and C. americana), golden bamboo, Salvia subrotunda, crocosmia 'Lucifer', and some Salvias (S. guaranitica, S. microphylla x greggii 'Red Velvet'), a crape myrtle (L. indinca 'Victor'), Tea shrub (a pink blooming, red leaf Camellia sinensis), cannas, and calla lilies, where I have to decide how to protect (eg., keeping out as long as I can and then possibly bringing them in during cold snaps). My Zone 8s and above (coffee arabica, pineapple sage, tropical hibiscus, pentas, pointsettias, christmas cactus, etc.,) have to come in. My hardy perennial herbs like my pineapple mint (the peppermint stays in a trough), lemon thyme, and greek oregano are in small pots and may get brought in for winter, although I may just stick them under a table outside so I can water them as needed.

The way to get tender roses through cold weather is to cover the tops with mulch or soil. The last time it got below 10 degrees F here a lot of roses died back or died - I would definitely do something to prepare for 2 degrees F if I had roses that were kinds I was concerned about. The temperature ranges for USDA Hardiness Zones are average annual minimum temperatures - individual temperatures being experienced at particular times don't really have anything to do with them. Think of your USDA low temperature spread as your core set, your mid-range, with it being normal for some winters to fall outside of it. The USDA web site tells people to plant stuff rated for the next coldest zone. Part of why this is a good idea is that so many commercial (and sometimes other) sources rate plants hardier than they actually are. It seems much of the time this may be due to a misunderstanding of what the USDA Hardiness Zone temperature indications refer to. This post was edited by bboy on Sun, Jan 5, 14 at 17:58

I have 3 fig cuttings from last year, they are about 12 inches tall. They dropped their leaves in the fall and I wintered them in the garage. I watered them about once a month in the winter. I just looked at them today and noticed there were some new leave tips at a the very top, which have dried out and the stem is dried out also, Should I water and trim off the dried out stem. Also when is a good time to put the pots outside. I don't plan on planting them in the ground but want to keep in pots for awhile. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

I bring lemon verbena indoors putting it in the north window of a semi-heated garage (50-60). Then I neglect it but it should be watered about once a month. The leaves will drop but have faith. When it's warm enough in the spring, put it outside and water it. I live in NH, zone 5. A long time ago, a great herb gardener told me that some plants have to have a winter's rest. Tarragon is one of them. I, too, have found that it's one of the last herbs to start growing in the spring. This year mine was a small shrub. It does a lot better in a very sunny location. I think the lavender variety I have is munstead. It doesn't get too big. I grew it from a 6-pack of starters I got at the farm store. I have a friend who does well with rosemary indoors. The tender perennials don't need to hibernate for the winter. She puts a humidifer next to her plant so it never dries out. I had good luck putting mine in the bathroom. It didn't get a lot of light (north window) but I think the humidity helped. I assume you have winter savory and not summer savory. It's hardy here. I did well with Greek oregano for a couple of years and then lost it. Hope my new plant survives the winter ... it's not in a sunny location. I had a small hedge of lemon balm that I grew from seed but one winter it died out. Again, it wasn't in a sunny location and the soil was poor. You might find seedlings growing next year if you let the plant flower. Happy gardening!