Re: HYB: CULT: Frost/freeze tolerance

Yes, by all means share data. Below freezing 5 nights (?), lowest was Sat - 24 at 6 AM but dropped another 2 degrees before it started warming up again. Can't believe it got even colder here than it did at your place, Betty (I'm at least one zone warmer than you). Not supposed to freeze here tonight.
Developing cultivars that will survive and bloom in spite of the typical damaging later winter/early spring freezes is a major area of hybridizing interest for me. Because I'm in a frost pocket (valley) at the foot of a north facing 1100 ft high ridge where the sun doesn't hit till late morning, freezes last longer here and damage is usually worse than in surrounding areas where air drainage is better and the sun arrives earlier in the day.
I would very much like to hear about pollen failure as well as bloom failure, or rather pollen success (!). One of the reasons I like CELEBRATION SONG so much is because her pollen is usually good even when others show signs of freeze damage.
Betty, I assume bloom was lost if the terminal fan rots out (or maybe just withers)even if no bloom is showing. In my experience, non-blooming terminal fans survive when the ones trying to make bloomstalks are killed in the same clump. Doesn't <prove> that the ones that withered would have bloomed, but seems like a reasonable assumption.
One of the reasons I keep trying to get something decent using IMMORTALITY, HARVEST OF MEMORIES, & VIOLET MIRACLE is because both are a lot more resistant to damage from late freezes and pass that trait along to their children, <unless> the children are early bloomers. I am very curious to see how the uncovered ones cope with this. Near as I can tell so far, none of the uncovered babies with either of these as a parent were killed to the ground, including the ones that were too small to plant out last spring. A <lot> of foliar damage, but all were crossed with a presumed weak mate, so I'm pleased to see them more or less still growing.
Looks like a couple of the VIOL MIR X EASY LIVING small transplants are doing pretty well.
Not many seedlings from TEA LEAVES (another one that usually shrugs off damaging freezes) yet, but the few out there (uncovered) look ok. They also have IMM as a grandparent, so have an extra shot of cold tolerance....
Not all rebloomers are early bloomers - I try to avoid those that are only early because they nearly always freeze out here, both spring and fall, the disaster Betty has faced both last fall and again this spring. In a better location than mine, the early ones are more reliable, but not here.
IMM can bloom whenever, & VIOL MIR, HOM & TEA L are usually at least midseason or later here.
I haven't used ENGLISH COTTAGE much, because it's an early bloomer so bloom is often damaged, but her foliage looks completely unharmed! Same for the 3 yr old ENGLISH COTTAGE X PINK FORMAL seedlings that I dug and moved a couple of weeks ago. Those poor plants have been seriously mistreated <g> EC X SHARPSHOOTER seedlings look bad so far. I had hoped to try a few more crosses with her this year, but forgot to dig and bring any inside to salvage. Another year...
Anybody out there growing ENGLISH COTTAGE who isn't in the freeze zone? Want to make some crosses for me? 
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
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