Dear Friends, We have just had 2 nights where the temps went down to 6 F (-14 C) and yesterday barely made it up to freezing. My Iris unguicularis has/had one flower open and 3 buds showing full color and emerged from their sheaths/bracts. The last two days had warm sun. I had covered the plant with a clear plastic bell jar for the first time, ever. Today the plant looks essentially unchanged, but the flowers and buds are totally frozen, collapsed and lost. So clearly the flowers cannot take this extreme, but the plant looks ok. So 6 degrees is too cold for the open and opening flower buds. I am hoping the more buds are deep within the plant's crowen and later buds will emerge and bloom unharmed. Stay tuned. Best Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +