The snow and ice are gone but the temperature is in the teens. What an odd year we have had weather wise and the coming year appears to be setting up to be unusual, as well. Record breaking heat, record breaking cold, snow storms..... Riku, those are very interesting photo's. It's hard for me to see the fracture, I'm not sure what I am looking at but the implications are frightening. Ann, I wish you had my weather :-) Patricia, you got snow? Wow. My pansies that usually bloom all winter here have fallen over, frozen solid. Bet and Pandy, it's hard to know what to expect anymore! Florence, thank you dear. I was very careful. I just take it slow and hope no one runs into me :-) I agree it is pretty but I'm glad it is gone. Kayla, now that is a snow storm! Stay warm and stay safe. Hope your son shows up before spring :-) Carol

Good Advise Cal, Hi Laura, Wetsuiter, Alex, and anyone i missed. I had to cover my green house frame with plastic in a big hurry. I brought most of the Citrus trees inside it because they have lemons. I really did not believe this could happen in NYC this early in a the season. We drove out to my moms on Long Island Saturday. They did not get much snow but had a few solid blasts of snow that melted fast as the wind went to tropical storm force with h. rain. You could imagine my surprise when a friend texts me photos that downtown brookln in covered in snow at 32* in the middle of the day!!?? My tracky and needle palms took it well, I am just concerned about my butia yatay in the ground, b/c it had froozen precip in the bud overnight. I figure they are so cold hardy and survive in southern cold spots that it should be OK. Come to think of it Laura, yours had withstood two big snow storms last year?

For you guys who know what I'm up to, an update. My large trachy is now covered for the season, as of this past Sunday. I did go with a version of dln949's method. I've been monitoring temp since it was completed and it seems that this one will be a definite winner! A quick description. Frame built from 2x2 pine posts, 1x4s for supports, all assembled with screws. The 2x2s are driven about a foot into the ground and staked very solid and secure. The enclosure is just high enough for the tree, about 7 feet. It is an odd shape because of the slightly raised triangle planter it is in. It's about 4'x3.5'x4'x3', and about 7' high as stated. It has a supported roof of 3/8" plywood covered with carpet. The enclosure is wrapped in chicken wire stapled down, except for on the roof. Over the chicken wire are two old but good shape bed comforters (bedspreads). They are stapled on, ground to roof. They staple on at the ground on 3 sides directly to the wood borders of the raised planter. Over the comforters is silver bubble wrap insulation which comes in a 4' wide roll. This is tacked on with staples and heavily duct taped at the seems and wrapped round and round with duct tape. All seems are overlapped by about a foot. Also the insulation over-wraps the roof. The thing is air-tight! Over the insulation is a waterproof tarp covering the whole thing, tied on tightly but able to be easily removed if I need to sneak a peek at a spot where I made an access hole which can be opened where I can get at the power strip if needed. Around the outside base of the enclosure are leaf bags packed tight to the bottom and anchored down by bricks and 6x6 timbers. I hand-packed more leaf/grass mulch into the areas between the bags and against the enclosure under the bags. Inside the enclosure: 5" deep cedar mulch as normally is in the planter. Under it is a "rope light" right at the dirt around the trunk right on top of the roots. On top of the cedar mulch is a string of mini outdoor xmas lights zig zagging over the ground/mulch in there and especially around the outer perimeter of the enclosure to keep the ground from freezing. Over the mini lights is a 6" layer of loose leaves and packed a little higher around the outer walls. Wrapped around the trunk and crown area of the tree is another string of mini xmas lights. The 2 strings of mini lights and the rope light are ALWAYS ON. Then zig-zagging throughout the inside of the enclosure frame, but not touching the tree or enclosure walls are 2 more strings of xmas lights, a string of white c-7s and white c-9s connected in series. These are connected to a "thermo cube" which comes on at 35 and off at 45 degrees. Also connected to the power cube is a clamp-on reflector fixture with a very bright CFL bulb in it for a little extra heat if needed. All of this extra heat only comes on if/when needed and has already tested to be very effective. When they come on when it hits 35 or so, which only happened twice that I have observed, it warms to beyond 45 in there within minutes, and they turn off. I believe this will protect it to well below zero for sure! My remote thermometer is mounted on a bracket about midway up the wall inside the enclosure far enough away from any of the xmas lights where it is accurate and transmits to about anywhere inside my house from all the way across the yard. A few more notes: I did not use the "Night Watchman" for this enclosure (thanks Jim for the "cube" tip). The Watchman is sufficient for one large string of xmas lights, but no more wattage than that. Two strings and it does not work right. The Cube is for higher wattage applications and an absolute PERFECT device for our needs here! I will use that Watchman thing for my needle palm which will only need one string of c-7 lights when I do cover it. The needle has a rope light under the mulch at the base/roots right now and the ground is warm to the touch there. I'll leave that on when the large trash can goes over it in a few weeks or when lows dip under the teens at night. The needle is taller than I thought, I might have to mulch it higher so it fits under the plastic trash can. The Watchman will prevent it from overheating under there and it will be easy to check on periodically. Bottom line, this was a pretty easy enclosure to build and assemble. I might not use it next year, maybe I will, depending on how easy it comes down and what condition it is in. I'd say I have about 4 or 5 total hours invested in its assembly and setup. Total cose: About $100. That includes the lights, materials, remote hermometer ($11.95), Thermocube ($8.95), etc. I really need to figure out how to post pictures right here on GW, rather than that outside link thing. I have a ton of pictures from all summer, to every step of the building process of the enclosure. I'd love to post them... So that's my outdoor palm's protection setup. Wish me luck, and good luck to you guys!

I keep mine at 68 all the time unless it's really cold and windy out of the west. Usually I can stand it but occasionally I will put it up a couple more degrees temporarily. I will put the clamp light under the desk pretty soon. That keeps it warm enough my feet don't get cold. I refuse to be cold. I use a mattress warmer at night. I thought the new flannel sheets would be enough but they aren't. I can't sleep if I'm not warm. I don't care what it costs, I won't be cold. This will definitely be the last outside animals I have. When these are gone, that's it. If there are barn cats coming and going I will leave a bag of cat food and a heated water dish. I'll check it but not twice a day. I'll leave the cat beds and probably make some other arrangements, too. I have piglet heating mats. Those, I'm told, cost the same as a 60 watt light bulb. African violets and Christmas cactus are blooming. Peace lilly will be soon. The poor old geranium that was one of those seedling things how many years ago... is blooming on the kitchen windowsill. I thought it was a goner last spring when I put it out but summer was good to it.