In some ways raised beds are warmer (although more exposed) that furrows into which cold air sinks and freezes and stays frozen longe. Experiments have shown this over and over It's counter intuitive re the idea of protecting plants from wind but compromises are possible,. At least two sets of factors operate, one being wind direction. ----- Original Message ----- From: <totototo@telus.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 10:59 AM Subject: Re: [pbs] Late fall in Maryland On 13 Dec 2009, at 13:48, Jim McKenney wrote: > ...my thoughts all week have been with those of you in the West Coast: the > Internet is full of postings relating to the awful weather out there - and > not just on garden-related sites. Well, here in Victoria, things have not been too bad. For comparison, last December we had two or three nights of truly unseasonable cold when it got down to -12C, whereas this year we had six nights or so where it got down to -6C, no worse. And in February 1989 we had a month-long cold spell sufficient to freeze the soil a good foot deep. What's been more unusual is the rainfall which has been much greater this year; usually our really wet weather waits for January-February. As I said in a posting a few days ago, if we have losses of bulbs, the wet weather preceding the cold spell will be partly to blame.