I just have a quick question about keeping my plants safe outside. We are under a sub-tempature warning for tonight and tomorrow morning. I have a few of my chamomile plants and peppermint plants growing outside in the tires that were out there. Will just covering them with plastic protect them? I have some plastic like you put on windows in the winter, so covering the tops of the tires entirely is not a problem. Or I have plastic bags that I could anchor around the plants themselves..although this might be a bit harder as they aren't that big.
The weather report said that plants will be in danger due to our warm tempatures before today. It is a hard adjustment for all of us. Yesterday it was 82..currently it is 46. We had a storm last night with major rain and hail, and now they are saying that it will all freeze tonight and tomorrow morning.

Thank you for your help with this. I am thinking right now, that this evening I will cover the tops of the tires and anchor the plastic down with rocks or sticks from the yard. I have tons of sticks. lol I just hope they can make it through all the water they got yesterday. I watered them yesterday afternoon, then about three hours later they got stormed on. Seemed hardly worth my trouble. lol
ladyalpha

In my experiances, here in the sunny south, we pile hay over a old sheet or blanket. The plastic will get as cold as the air and although protect your plantlings from dew or rain can do damage if it comes in contact with the plants. If you can't get hay or straw, you can use leaves, or double up on the cloth. If you don't have any old sheets or blankets, try second hand stores for these or even old curtains etc... Hope all goes well for you.

Thank you LadyAlpha for asking this question. I am in the same situation. I live in Illinois just across the river from St. Louis and my herb garden has really taken off with Lavender, Sage, Thyme, chammoile, Rosemary, Catmint, and a wonderful patch of lemon balm. I just bought some new plants including dead nettle, marjoram, another lavender, peppermint, and a jasmine vine but haven't gotten them planted yet, so I brought their little pots inside to live under my indoor plant light until this cold snap passes. Wasn't that rain and hail last night something? I am extending my herb garden this year and they won't deliver the truck load of dirt until we dry out some. Thanks again for this question and the advice given. I'm off to find some old sheets and blankets. Would crumpling up some newspaper around the plants under the blankets help protect them too, or is this unnecessary?
Blessings, SisterWolf

My plants in the ground are too large already to cover with pots! I could even harvest a little lemon balm already! My lavender, Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary are already very tall and my lemon balm is spreading out. (these are eight year old plants) Unfortunately, these are all bunched together, thus the need to expand the garden and move a few (hope they survive the move). Yes, we are ready for spring to start all over again! At least it's sunny today!
Blessings, SisterWolf

Thank you all for the tips and the information about the plastic. I went out awhile ago and checked on them. It seems that the rain/hail beat them down last night. You can see them if you look closely. lol
I have a ton of leaves..unfortunally the old blanket I had was given to the dog and I really don't want to touch it. lol (He is an outside dog, so it is pretty funky). Perhaps I could put a layer of leaves in there and that will insulate them naturally??

Thankfully it is sunny and not very windy today. Just enough wind to help the earth soak up all the rain. Our driveway and yard floods when it rains.
Hopefully these cold temps will go away soon. I found a picture of my kids from last Easter down here. They are wearing a dress and shorts. Won't be that way this year.

Blessings to all of you..may your gardens grow strong and healthy,
ladyalpha