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Gardeners and farmers are always trying to extend the growing season. In the past, about all they could do is use cold frames to give plants a head start and cover shrubs with sheets when frost threatens. But now there’s a new product which can add, on average, two weeks in the spring to a plant’s growing season, and another two in the fall. FreezePruf , just introduced by the Liquid Fence company, is a spray that increases plant resistance to both cold damage and cold mortality. It protects both externally on the surface of the leaves, as well as FreezePruf effectively moves your temperature zone about 200 miles south. So no matter what zone you’re in, it increases plant performance by about a half a USDA hardiness zone, or 5 degrees, with some plants showing increased hardiness by over 9 degrees. It can be applied just before a frost incident or every 4 to 6 weeks throughout the season. Dr. David Francko, a professor of botany at the University of Alabama, co-developed the spray with researchers at the Miami University in Ohio. He envisions the spray appealing to commercial growers, backyard gardeners looking Francko, who received widespread media attention, including a national television appearance alongside Martha Stewart following his 2003 publication of “Palms Won’t Grow Here and Other Myths,” called cold tolerance products “one of the holy grails of horticulture.” FreezePruf lowers both the temperature at which damage first becomes noticeable in plants as well as the temperature that would normally kill the plant, according to the research results. “It protects both the foliage and the flower,” Francko said. FreezePruf won the Best in Show prize at a huge garden center show in Chicago last year. Research results indicate the spray is effective on a variety of plants, including palms, tropical houseplants, bananas, citrus plants and flowers. Come visit us at Lavalette Nursery at the top of 5th Street Hill and check it out.
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systemically, by strengthening cell walls to prevent water loss. 
to protect flowers from a late frost, and nursery owners looking to cash in on an approved appearance for their high dollar ornamentals.