I have to think of what to do with my lovely lotus. The sun came up this morning and its small container-pond had a skim of ice on it from last night’s cold snap, the low having been about 27F (-3C). I think I’ll leave just enough water in the container to cover the roots and place the whole thing in the coldest (yet unfrozen) corner of the garage. If I can find a few loose tubers I might put them in a Ziploc baggie with some wet sphagnum moss and leave it in the vegetable drawer of the spare fridge as a backup plan.
There’s no illusion of an Indian Summer once ice starts forming on open water.
Even in death the dried leaves still repel beads of water, and when frozen they look even cooler (pun intended). I really hope this plant can tolerate my poorly planned and half thought out overwintering plans!
A cold, calm night, and everything just froze as is. Winter is a’comin!
I’m glad I got these pictures this morning since I haven’t had a chance to be out in the garden much lately. The time change has me leaving in the dark and coming home in the dark, and eight cuttings growing under a shop light doesn’t quite satisfy my gardening appetite. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some time, since today was a bust with birthday parties, to-do lists, and grocery runs….. I just have to be careful online tonight, I’m obsessing over my yard’s lack of conifers 🙂 Wish me luck!
sorta like suburbia 
And we still haven’t had a frost! Good thing really as I have to clean up the cellar and garage before putting any plants in there! Good luck with the lotus.
Hmmmm. I put many of the plants into the garage already without cleaning.
I wonder how your winter will be this year? Is November late for a first frost for you?
Last winter was really mild, but we had frost in October. So I’m wondering if the late onset of cold temperatures is a good sign or not!
I have my fingers crossed for you. I bet you wouldn’t mind another mild winter!
We haven’t had a frost either. We can have a frost as early as Oct 15th which is when I brought all my tender plants inside, but so far, nothing. I hope your Lotus survives the winter for you.
That’s interesting Pauline, October 15th is our average first frost date yet you seem to have a much more relaxed autumn. I guess without the Gulf Stream off the Atlantic things get cold much quicker here.
Gives me the creeps to see that ice floating…but then, you have Lotus and I don’t – what does this tell me? 😉
It will bother me more when that first touch of frost goes into the soil…. I’m sure it will happen right after I decide to order one last batch of bulbs for fall planting!
We may both be without lotus next year. The pot is still outside 🙂
I do hope you manage to keep the Lotus alive. It has grown a lot since you showed it last. What other treasures do you have in your indoor garden this year? Your garage sounds interesting, do you put any cars in it too? I’m hoping to heat my greenhouse to keep it just above freezing this year, I already have several seed trays full of micro salad leaves that we are already eating, my aim is to keep producing them all winter with any luck.
he garage is supposed to have two cars…. only one fits in presently, but each frosty morning makes me think twice about that.
The indoor garden is made up of a few tropical cuttings right now, but will soon be taken over by hardy cyclamen and whatever other cool weather plants strike my fancy. A hellebore would be nice, but I’m afraid it might be too large and too much trouble.
A winter filled with home grown salads. I think that will be well worth the effort!
I hate the short days, when getting outside is only a weekend option. My yard has a lack of conifers also, though I’m not sure if I want to do anything about it. I do need a new water feature, though. You’re container pond looks interesting. What kind of container is it?
The “pond” is just a large container which never actually had its drainage holes drilled. For a few years it had a small solar powered fountain in it which was also a lot of fun.
Sad it is on the way, Frank. It looks like a big portion of the country will be in the deep freeze. Today was warm with iris in bloom, but they will be freezing their flowers off in another day or so.
I just saw a weather map with a big blue zone swirling down from Canada…. I had flashbacks to the polar vortices of last winter!
bye bye fall