Rodger wrote, English gardeners who kept tender plants in frames (cyclamen, iirc) placed a >single layer of newspaper over them before shutting the frames down when >serious cold threatened. I did that a couple of times before I got the big roll of microfoam. The newspaper absorbs moisture and turns into a real mess. It probably does protect the plants, but then you have this huge stack of sodden newspaper that you can't do much with, unless you use it for mulch in the vegetable garden -- a practice I have never thought quite advisable owing to the chemicals in newsprint. He adds >Following that line of reasoning leads me to >believe that the size of frames is >important: individually they should be as wide and long as you can afford >wothout making access to the back or middle overly awkward. > >What are the dimensions of your frames, Jane? > >Mine are 48×32" boxes made of thick yellow cedar with Coroplast covers. Three of them are 40 feet by 4 feet and two are 40 feet by 5 feet. The bases are made out of railroad ties (Brit. sleepers) and the lights on the old ones are plexiglas, and on the newer ones, polycarbonate, on A-frame structures that open to both sides. I think having the frames vented on both sides is very good for air circulation, though I had to pay carpenters to accomplish this, and it's easier on the back to reach in from either side toward the middle. The bases stand about 18 inches (45 cm) high and are filled with coarse sand as a plunge medium. There are pictures of them in "Rock Garden Design and Construction." So they are pretty large, but also pretty accessible. I live in the country and had a whole open field to put them in. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA