In a pinch I covered each plant with the large paper yard waste bags then topped that with the plastic buckets - what an assortment!! My yard looked very decorative indeed. Thanks.

greene said:In a pinch I covered each plant with the large paper yard waste bags then topped that with the plastic buckets - what an assortment!! My yard looked very decorative indeed. Thanks.

Yes. Colorful! I believe Strother Martin said that line so well.

Thanks for the tip on the buckets! I love your yard, that seating area is so beautiful.

virginiarose said:Thanks for the tip on the buckets! I love your yard, that seating area is so beautiful.

Susan & Marilyn! And thank you Rick & Susan for the acorns!

Whilst Head Gardener on a big estate open to the public, one of my duties was to look after the Victorian kitchen garden. The wonderful and most knowledgeable Lady owner of the estate always wanted sea kale (Crambe maritima), for the kitchen! To this end in Victorian times large terracotta pots were made so as to force the sea kale up in spring and to blanch or whiten the stems which are eaten.
These huge and frost resistant pots were found by me to be ideal to protect many ornamental plants from the damaging snow & ice.
Some plants especially on this estate died due to too much cold/rain and not ice. So if a lot of rain was forecast the said plants were covered for as long as the rain lasted.
Luckily we had hundreds of these terracotta pots. They were designed to cover plants and not to be used as a normal pot. They also had a small hole in the top, to allow some air circulation. A Victorian wonder indeed.
Regards.
Neil.
p.s. Remarkably these pots are still made look here. http://www.littlethorpepotteri...

Those are very nice! Thanks for sharing you experiences.

You had me at whilst.

http://www.grammar-monster.com...

I love the way he talks, I think he is British! Whilst is an old fashioned word (while) and he was talking about the Victorian era, I thought it was a good choice especially since he is British.

NEILMUIR1 said:Whilst Head Gardener on a big estate open to the public, one of my duties was to look after the Victorian kitchen garden. The wonderful and most knowledgeable Lady owner of the estate always wanted sea kale (Crambe maritima), for the kitchen! To this end in Victorian times large terracotta pots were made so as to force the sea kale up in spring and to blanch or whiten the stems which are eaten.
These huge and frost resistant pots were found by me to be ideal to protect many ornamental plants from the damaging snow & ice.
Some plants especially on this estate died due to too much cold/rain and not ice. So if a lot of rain was forecast the said plants were covered for as long as the rain lasted.
Luckily we had hundreds of these terracotta pots. They were designed to cover plants and not to be used as a normal pot. They also had a small hole in the top, to allow some air circulation. A Victorian wonder indeed.
Regards.
Neil.
p.s. Remarkably these pots are still made look here. http://www.littlethorpepotteri...

How interesting Neil! Thank you so much for sharing this story & the link with us. Those pots are so cool!

Dear Susan, thank you so much for your support of the English language. One must keep up the British stiff upper lip, and retain the correct decorum on such important matters!
Of course we do have other languages in our but small island (s). Notably Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic and Welsh. Then of course there is the distinct dialect between our counties. From Geordie in the northeast to Scouse from Liverpool in the north west. Of course Glaswegian is very difficult to understand, but it is possible. Then to the broad dialect of Yorkshire, which is easy for me as my father is a true Yorkshireman, whereas my mother is a Geordie (still in England of course). To cockney rhyming slang from London, we are all a bit strange.
However we do all understand each other whilst using the Queens English!
I do so hope this may sort matters out, If confused try the Oxford English Dictionary, which is at; http://www.oed.com/
Off for a pint of fine ale.
May you all prosper in your erstwhile endeavours, to find a cure for the damage the cold does to plants!
Personally I like the golden cloak of Autumn (fall), as it sets in, and my garden goes to sleep. Then our nations love of warming soups comes alive; of course made from vegetables nestling in the garden. Served with homemade bread and of course pints of foaming ales.
The cold and the rain we are used to, as it lasts all summer.
Regards from across the Atlantic.
Neil.

See, I knew there was some down side to living down south. Most of the winter you have it way better than we do. But I bet that ice and unseasonal weather is really tough on the plants. Great tip.

You betcha Rita! And we also can't winter sow b/c it might be 40 degrees one day & then 83 the next which would cause the seeds to sprout & begin growing way before they should.

I would like to thank everyone for the 's & the :acorn:'s!

Neil, thank you too! Seems that we have been very busy looking out the window and complaining about winter and here you go showing us that it's ok to enjoy it. Looking forward to warm soups, freshly baked bread and pints of ale. This all sounds so wonderful and we can use stuff from our own gardens, I will make some soup tomorrow, can't think of a better way to spend a cold day when I am off from work. Enjoy your ale!!

Dear Susan, the British complain about the weather all the time. It is one of our National social pastimes. If it gets above 65 F we moan a lot about the heat, if it rains too much we moan and complain if it does not rain enough! It changes here constantly, the weather so is much discussed over a pint of Ale.
Regards.
Neil.

...I understand completely. LOL.

Dear Susan, the farming community is even worse at moaning about the weather!
Regards from a still flooded England.
Neil.

flaflwrgrl said:I would like to thank everyone for the 's & the :acorn:'s!

@flaflwrgrl..... Ann, You are very...