I would like to hear about people's experiences with Alstroemeria cold tolerance. I had many plants left outside unprotected since last night's forecasted low of 33F by the National Weather Service was a full 6 degrees off from reality (it was actually 27F). Well, that's not entirely true; I was curious to see what would happen. Undoubtedly, the plants can survive down into the 20's and this will vary by species but I wonder how cold most species/cultivars of Alstroemeria can go before damage becomes apparent. I routinely use inverted black plastic pots for cold protection with great success on a number of species. The trick is to use a second pot over the first. It should go without saying that all pot covers must be removed the next morning. Covering the foliage may not be the only concern. If you are growing plants in plastic pots that are out in the open, all the roots at the edge of the root ball are in contact with the plastic pot and highly susceptible to night time temperatures. Floating row covers are widely available here in Northern California. When it becomes to cumbersome to elevate the material off the plants, I just throw a second and sometimes a third layer over whatever I'm covering. The key is to create as many layers of insulating air as possible. That being said, positioning is everything and blocking a plant's view of the overhead sky could easily save it. Just moving an uncovered potted plant under the eave of a building or canopy of a tree could easily prevent damage depending on the circumstances. Don't forget to water your plants. Plants are generally more susceptible to cold damage if they are also water stressed. Cold weather arrives with dry air and this has certainly been the case this past week in California. I watered a lot of dry plants yesterday. Remember to water early in the day and keep all water off the foliage at night. Any water left on leaves at night can freeze and do significant damage. The alternative is to pretend that you are growing citrus and run the water overhead all night long to keep the temperature of the ice from going too far below freezing. Of course, controlled water stress *prior* to cold can generate some beneficial tolerance to cold temperatures in some species but this should not be confused with water stress *during* the cold period. Bright sunny mornings are not at all helpful. They just make you feel better. Freeze and chilling injury damage can be greatly exasperated by bright sunny mornings accompanied with rapidly rising temperatures. This has been the case here in Northern California for almost a week. If I had to choose, I would move an uncovered potted plant under the west or north eave of a building and completely avoid the east and south exposures. If I had a marginally cold tolerant specimen planted in the ground shrouded in floating row covers, I would still definitely block the morning sun from hitting it with cardboard or some other barrier. In some instances, this is almost as important as covering the plant. But it all depends on the weather and everyone should have at least one min/max thermometer to know what's going on outside. I can't imagine growing anything without them. Nathan