Keeping plants alive through freezing nights

This is not intended as an informational article about gardening, a subject that is far from my limited areas of knowledge! My wife has had success nursing some vulnerable plants through winter frost and occasional extreme temperatures. Covering them with old bed sheets before the temp drops too much below freezing seems to help a lot.

This morning, when I helped remove the sheets as the sun climbed and the temp rose, we were both pleasantly surprised at how well some budding flowers were doing, considering that we had dropped to -7º C (18 or 19º F) overnight. Some blooms had fully opened, but the ones that I found most photogenic were these buds, preparing to display. The light was helpful for a little while. I found that my tripod wouldn't let me position the macro lens where I wanted it, so these shots were all done hand-held, bracing my arms and elbows wherever I could - including sometimes on the side of a tripod leg, and sometimes on a hard, cold concrete driveway - and getting some assist from the IS (image stabilization) feature of the lens (Canon 100/2.8 L IS macro).

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