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Wintering Plants in Pots - Part 2Read the article this discussion is about
This archived discussion is "read only". » ______MarcellaGM - Good ideas Marge, good ideas. I am acquainted with many of them but, it's surprising how we foreget and then wonder how to solve the problem. Your refresher course will get me cracking on protecting my pots before they crack in the expected icey winter. I suspect we have similar weather. I'm in zone seven. Because of several very mild winters, the doom sayers are predicting ice, snow and a generally miserable outlook. Many of my tender plants got through last winter but, I'm not taking that chance this year. I liked the nursery solution, piling up all the plants and covering them. This idea could work for the gardener who leaves things to the last minute and needs to deal with their plants, pronto.-- posted by ______MarcellaGM » HollyT - sub for cold frame? Hi Marge,I'm trying to figure out the least effort way to protect a few things, and need your help. I have one of those twin-wall plastic portable cold frames, but can't set it up this year with my broken wrist. (Am out of the cast in abt 10 days, but think i will be on light duty til prob. christmas.) 1. Have an agapanthus in a 12 or 14" pot. It's prob. marginally hardy here. Could put it under the deck, inside the roof line, and cover with leaves and burlap. Or could put it in cardboard box in garage, also covered with leaves. 2. Have a large brugmansia (hardy type--leaves have wilted but it still has flowers!!!--anyone want a cutting?). Am thinking of cutting it back to stubs and putting in box of leaves in garage. Could put it under bench in my new greenhouse :-), but when i cut it back and had it in the house last year, it attracted every whitefly in the county. Also, it's hard for me to clean up the outside plants enough to put them in the greenhouse with this broken flipper, so am considering the same box-of-leaves-in-the-garage treatment. What do you think? 3. Have about 10 pots of various heuchera, recently pulled out of perennial bed and divided. Prob not rooted yet. 4. Have maybe a dozen hosta pulled out of bed where they didn't get enough water this year, sitting bare-root in pots. How can i salvage them w/o too much work? Looking forward to your wise counsel.... -- posted by HollyT » Sonni - Cold Frames I just found this in a magazine from a year ago:The "Snap-Together Fold-Away Cold Frame - from Langenbach Fine Garden Tools: They claim to have it online. Here's their web site: http://www.Langenbach.com if not - their 800 number is: 1-800-362-1991. It's a "more flexible and less expensive material than polycarbonate but with the same insulating properties and light diffusion. It costs $46.00" What do you think? Would the elements its made of heat things up too much? Regards, Sonni -- posted by Sonni » HollyT - snap-together cold frame Hi Sonni,I have one of those frames, and it is fine for my protected garden in DC suburbs. folds up flat, which is an advantage. however, it is not terribly sturdy. I missed the details of where you garden--is it on top of a bldg in NYC? If so, am not sure this is sturdy enough for the winds, etc. How would you hold it down? I think you need something more substantial. -- posted by HollyT » Sonni - snap together cold frame I thought maybe someone else was interested in these. It was interesting for me, because living in an apartment, I don't have room for permanent fixtures like cold frames; but your right - it doesn't sound very sturdy if it "snaps together".I'm not on the roof, but on a terrace on the 31st floor. At times it's very windy - I've been working around it. I'm going for the bubble pack and if the wind is too intense, I'll use the burlap.... and pray for the best! sorry about your wrist. Ouch. Couldn't you stand the pots behind a building where they would be blocked from the wind? I like Marge's illustration of bricks in a square - but I guess with a broken wrist, that's kind of out of the question unless you get some help. Maybe some teens would like to make a few extra bucks and could help you out. I try to do everything myself and sometimes it just ain't the right way to do it! (you should have seen me carrying a double sized futon mattress down 5th Avenue in Manhattan once when I was REALLY DUMB = ha ha) -- posted by Sonni » ______MarcellaGM - 31st floor? Sonni, Wow! You really have a gardening challange.-- posted by ______MarcellaGM Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion. |
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