Q: December's frost has damaged several plants in my garden. Can you talk about how to predict what a frost will damage and how to protect the plants? Also, what do I do now that frost has damaged the plants?
A: December's frost was particularly damaging because of the mild weather of the previous month. Within limits, plants adjust to colder weather by gradually moving water from inside cells to between cells, as a kind of insulation. Our warmer-than-average temperatures of November and early December gave them less chance to prepare in this way.