The banana plant, Musa acuminata
One of the most particular nights in my garden is when the first frost arrive, usually in mid October. Although the air at head height did fall below 1C, the tops of Dahlia, yacon and oca was killed by freezing. Oca only partly, as I have placed a box on top of the plants. Only leaves out of the box is dead. First frost typically happens in my garden in mid-October, after a day of sunshine, in a windless night. The bone-dry air lets the earth’s heat radiate out into the universe. The cooling then hits all the most frost tender plants.
Does that sound bad? It is not. It is another step into our future. Both tops of Dahlia and of yacon is fine to get frozen, because it reminds me that it’s time to dig them up. It will probably be a long time yet, before the frost reaches the tubers down the ground. But if I wait to dig them up, I’m likely to forget about them.
Other plants tolerate no frost at all. F.ex. geranium, lemon grass and banana plants must be completely protected from frost. I potted them up last week-end. Now they just have to get the best out of the warm, low light winter quarter in too dry air.
The banana plant, which stood in the kitchen garden, I had planned to overwinter outdoors under a thick cover, but as far as I can understand the good advice on the internet, it has no real chance to get through. So this winter I’ll take it indoors. In the photo it is just placed in the pot, waiting for more recycled potting soil. But maybe I will leave it outdoor next year. Maybe it just need a huge compost pile and a tarpaulin on top of it?
Lemon grass, Cymbopogon citratus
Lemon grass I have grown in the garden for several seasons, and taken it indoors every winter. It works fine, and some of the stems are nice thick. The thick ones we can eat, the rest can overwinter in a clump, be divided in spring and planted in the vegetable garden again.
Some of the lemon grass stalks are nice and thick
In the toad's garden 
October 17, 2011 at 18:10
I’ve got potatoes badly knocked back. They were grown from true seed I got in May, so they’ve only got as far as flowering, never mind dying back. I just hope there are some tubers underneath that I can overwinter, otherwise I’ll be back to square one. Some leaves on the corn have been browned, and the oca is untouched.
October 23, 2011 at 20:58
Guess your true seed potatoes have made at least small tubers? Interesting your oca is untouched by frost. Is it protected some way, by tall corn plants or trees?
October 25, 2011 at 03:28
I’ve got potatoes badly knocked back. They were grown from true seed I got in May, so they’ve only got as far as flowering, never mind dying back. I just hope there are some tubers underneath that I can overwinter, otherwise I’ll be back to square one. Some leaves on the corn have been browned, and the oca is untouched.
+1
November 7, 2011 at 16:00
As passionate about gardening as we are, we also know that it requires work. And the amount of work that’s required really depends on the geographic locations of our gardens.
I live in Southern California where the temperatures are almost never low enough to harm most plants and so we don’t need to worry about taking them indoors or creating covers to guard them against frost. I guess gardeners in warmer climates have it much easier.
November 21, 2011 at 11:27
We had our first frost last week. Strange it was so much later than you. There’s something very nice about a solid frost cleaning the garden. Away with the old, and get ready for the new.
November 21, 2011 at 19:07
Here the first frost can come in mid October, but only if the night is clear and the air is dry, and any wind is absent. For that reason, the first frost can come much later, though usually not later than sometime in November. We didn’t have frost for a long time now, as the weather has been wet and cloudy. Dark and moody. But one thing I find strange this autumn – we still didn’t have a little storm or gale. There’s so unusually little wind, that I’ve started to feel restless. I miss the harsh autumn weather! (And hate it when it’s actually here 🙂 )