Which plants laugh at frost?

[Doug Kanter]

So far, the following troopers have refused to give up here in upstate NY (zone 5), after 2 nights of 28 degrees F., measured at ground level right by the plants:

Broccoli raab Collard greens Green ice lettuce Parsley (two kinds) Swiss chard Chives

The first two are especially delicious at the moment, so I'm creating a sort of a tunnel over them with plastic sheets for as many evenings as this miracle lasts. They were both started from seed in mid-September. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done.

[Cereus-validus-...........]

Is that some sort of trick question?

No plants laugh at frost.

Are you asking which are cold hardy?

[Mark Anderson]

We had subzero overnight windchills here in Chicago, far harder than a mere frost and my chives, parsley and collards are growing like nothing bad happened. I heard that you get the best collards after they experience their first frost. I'm giving all of mine away on Sunday. This season is pretty much over and they're supposed to be an annual. The chives have always been a hardy plant consistently coming back strong the next year surviving very severe winters. All of my plants are in pots so cold is a bigger problem.

[Doug Kanter]

No. Not about hardiness. I'm talking about plants whose leaves behave like absolutely nothing happened, after they've been subjected to quite a bit of cold.

[Cheryl Isaak]

Some of my dark leaved huechera look pretty good still. Ditto the Bergenia cordifolia and my Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' has just started going yellow; the flowers still look great.

Mind you, none of these are edible.

Cheryl

[DrLith]

Here's an interesting article from Mother Earth News about a farm in Vermont that focuses on growing local salad vegetables year-round. Toward the end they have a list of their best successes with winter crops.

[paghat]

but inside greenhouses doesn't count.

-paghat the ratgirl

[Cereus-validus-...........]

No such thing.

Freezing tempertaures affects all plants in one way or another.

At the very least, they will go dormant and stop growing.

[Doug Kanter]

Thanks for the article.

[Doug Kanter]

Perhaps, but I guess I didn't elaborate. I've got stuff that is already grown, but still edible. Not wilted & ugly. They're already protected from critters by wire cages. I'm going to see if I can get another week or two by covering those cages with plastic. Today, I harvested what feels like about

5 lbs of collards, and that was only 1/4 of the row.

[DrLith]

That's easy for you to say, Ms. Zone 8! :-)

I daresay, most January mornings it's probably colder inside a unheated Vermont greenhouse than it is standing in your yard. The article implies they gained the equivalent of about 3 hardiness zones with this technique.

[Robert]

In Maryland, we've been having lots of days that are 30 at night and 40 in the afternoon. My rocket (arugula) has kept growing and has stayed fresh without any frost damage so far.

[Stephen Henning]

Witch-Hazel. When people in Wisconsin & Minnesota are having their winter festivals, my witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is blooming. That is the ultimate in laughing at winter.