Fingers crossed we have...

Very cold here today Moon Grower it was 0deg and looked like freezing fog first thing in morning.

I did not get a chance to lift my gazinas I grew from seed in my raised bed and they are still well in bloom but its so wet with all the rain thsi week.

So hav enow jsut covered bed with fleece and taken a chance.

Hope you are keeping nice and cosy.

two weeks ago I was up in Dingwall staying with a friend but it poured a rain.

Next yr we would like to go for longer and take our bikes maybe hire a cottage.

Just wonder when it's necessary to cover over the roots of plants like cannas, gunneras, and other tender hardy perennials which die down.
If you cover them up too early they start into growth under the straw or mulch. If you leave it too late, you miss that night when it's really cold and there's a penetrating frost.
I've a Strelitzia that's still outside in its pot, with two flower buds on it. Guess I should get that under cover very quickly. It's clear tonight but the forecast is saying 5 or 6 degrees... can't always believe them!

Hello Bertie yes clear tonight in Scotland but very very cold and just 17.30pm ,

Thinkyou climate just that bit warmer than us but still best to cover I think.

I've still got a banana and a tree fern outside in pots....have fleeced them, but should really try and squeeze them into the greenhouse tomorrow...
Hope your Strelitzia is OK Bertiefox...

I admire the resolve of those of you who keep 'tender' plants, they add much interest in Summer. I however gave it up years ago as unless you're prepared to use heat it's a risky business. If they don't survive winter I don't grow them. We've been lucky lately but you never know when we're in for a 'proper' winter.

Moved some of the tender bulbs into the warmth for the night. I have not fleeced the greenhouse plants and bulbs yet but am watching the weather very carefully. I don't leave the fleece on all winter, just cover when the temperature goes very low and then I remove it later. At the moment the daytime temperature in the greenhouses is quite comfortable so whilst it only dips to minus one ore two at night I will probably not cover. If it goes lower and stays cold during the day then I will cover.

Maybe I should bring the little Avocado plant in then. What do you think about the foxglove tree, I just left it outside in a pot last year but now it's in the middle of the garden. Cover the roots?

I found some info about this tree on the BBC garden plant finder:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/616.shtml

Seems it is a hardy tree here in the UK so it shouldn't need any special care.

Do you mean Paulownia, Genellie, when you say 'foxglove tree'? If so, it is pretty hardy once it's established, and the worst that could happen is that it will come up again from the roots. You will lose flower buds in a cold winter, as they form on the tree in autumn, but the rest of the tree is pretty hardy.
I know as I have 150 of the little blighters (plus the 'mummy', which is 20 ft high) in pots which I am keeping out of the frost until the spring. The 'green' bits will die in the frost, but the ripened stems which have gone brown should be ok. (I hope)
We've also got an avocado that's five years old, and it got frosted lightly last year and lost all of its leaves. I put it in the conservatory, which is an enclosure buried in the hillside on three sides, and unheated, and it grew its leaves back and has been completely healthy this summer. Apparently if you let them grow to 60 feet (lol) you might even get fruit.

My fingers are crossed for both then Bertie. Thank you.