It's impossible to find old fashion Christmas lights nowadays here. Only the LED ones are available. There is one positive thing there - the inner air is dry. Just crossing the fingers and hoping for the best. And I believe they are laughing there.
I don't know if my Gunnera does laugh too. It seems more frost sensitive. But if it will survive it would be a very nice present to my 50 th anniversary.

-28C...... Coldest day so far without windchill.

That is still zone 5 right 😡

-28C...... Coldest day so far without windchill.

Jeese, don't worry about the ZONES. I know you know how to calculate the USDA zones temperatures. In spite of mine lows I'm still in Zone 6a (for the last 12 years minus -22,5 C is an average abs. minimum regarding the airport datas that is a little bit colder in winter time than my 1000 m elevation).
I don't know what is the English for accumulated temperatures above 10C. In my place it is 3576. I think the USDA heat index might based on a some sort of the accumulated temperatures. Of course frost free period is very important too. In my place this is 190 days. I know it's nothing compared to the Jim's place but I believe it's a way longer than in Thunder Bay.

Those are some cold temps Jesse & Igor! I hope your plants are bundled up.

-28C...... Coldest day so far without windchill.

Jeese, don't worry about the ZONES. I know you know how to calculate the USDA zones temperatures. In spite of mine lows I'm still in Zone 6a (for the last 12 years minus -22,5 C is an average abs. minimum regarding the airport datas that is a little bit colder in winter time than my 1000 m elevation).
I don't know what is the English for accumulated temperatures above 10C. In my place it is 3576. I think the USDA heat index might based on a some sort of the accumulated temperatures. Of course frost free period is very important too. In my place this is 190 days. I know it's nothing compared to the Jim's place but I believe it's a way longer than in Thunder Bay.

The zone thing is a long withstanding argument lol. I would not be surprised if they were being revised again. Zones are a good base line, and in gardening, the zone method is still the standard. Trust me, I agree with you, the zone method is one of the things to think of.

Also, the average last frost is june 1st, and first frost is sept 15. There are major variations, and the "average" tends to be the absolute latest over the last few decades. That gives me around 110 days. Id say we usually get 120. Lately, we have had 130 and 140+ frost free days.

If you are taking growing season into account, I do tend to have a long growing season, utilizing cool/cold weather crops. Even longer with hoop houses. My Fargesia Rufa loves it here due to the cool spring and fall. Im trying as many Fargesia species as I possibly can since Rufa does so well (the scabrida did great till I killed it, uncovered it too early, and it was in a frost pocket).

The way I see it is you wont know what will grow in your yard until you try, and even then failure does not always mean it wont work.

impossible to find old fashion Christmas lights nowadays here. Only the LED ones are available.

Must be contagious...your government caught it from our government who caught it from the US government 😆 😆

But all those LED's are all made in China.
So much for previously manufacturing our own light bulbs in North America!

I'll stay out of the zone debate.
Two days ago I thought we were in Zone 1a 😐

Barb

impossible to find old fashion Christmas lights nowadays here. Only the LED ones are available.

Must be contagious...your government caught it from our government who caught it from the US government 😆 😆

But all those LED's are all made in China.
So much for previously manufacturing our own light bulbs in North America!

I'll stay out of the zone debate.
Two days ago I thought we were in Zone 1a 😐

Barb

You're a hoot Barb! Someone needs to do something quickly about China:Scary awful place!

Here is the 14 day forecast:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caon0688

Here is the 14 day forecast:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caon0688

Nice break before another deep-freeze eh? Ours look OK for the next bit: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caon0696/table?ref=tabs_14day_table
No super cold nights, but no really mild days. Ah well, these things always change!

Hey, if we stay with -13.3C as the absolute minimum, it will be the 2nd mildest year ever!

Oh, and jesse, I can give you a simple method that should allow you overwinter Fargesia seedlings without much trouble (my 'nitida' (guess they should be called spatheca now) came through 100% after -30C last winter...

Nice break

Man, is it ever nice.
My car even started today... 😀

Here is the 14 day forecast:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caon0688

Nice break before another deep-freeze eh? Ours look OK for the next bit: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fourteenday/caon0696/table?ref=tabs_14day_table
No super cold nights, but no really mild days. Ah well, these things always change!

Hey, if we stay with -13.3C as the absolute minimum, it will be the 2nd mildest year ever!

Oh, and jesse, I can give you a simple method that should allow you overwinter Fargesia seedlings without much trouble (my 'nitida' (guess they should be called spatheca now) came through 100% after -30C last winter...

"Deep freeze" is relative. If -28C is the low this winter, its a contender for one of the mildest winter. We usually get weeks of this weather. A few days is nothing *knocks on wood.

In your case, that makes you a cold zone 8 or warm zone 7. You probably didnt even have to protect the majority of plants. If this holds, you are gonna have a major upsize in bamboo! Speaking of, you can post that trick here if you want or PM me, up to you. Any advice is good!

We hit this night 0.5 F / -17.5 C and it's getting worse. All my piece of heart looking for spring.

NOT as bad as russia"": Strong frost and temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius are forecast to last until the end of the weekend in the south Siberian Khakassia region"" The entire middle part of russia is frozen, and its even gone as far south as athens greece, which recorded 0C yesterday!

NOT as bad as russia"": Strong frost and temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius are forecast to last until the end of the weekend in the south Siberian Khakassia region"" The entire middle part of russia is frozen, and its even gone as far south as athens greece, which recorded 0C yesterday!

My friends in Greece are all complaining about it!! LOL, I love it.

We're going down here in Poland in a few past days. New minimal temperatures arrived: -24 C / -11.2 F