An early frost in fall can send gardeners scrambling for sheets and blankets to cover their tender plants. In the spring, we're usually ready to watch things bloom and enjoy the warming weather, but the topsy -turvy temperatures this month mean your plants need some bundling up this spring.

I took a trip to a local nursery to see what to do when springtime temperatures drop. Ice isn't usually around in early April, but freezing temperatures the past few nights have taken a toll.

"It's hard. It's definitely been hard on us," said Liz Graznak, Superior Garden Center.

Garden centers are taking special precautions to protect their inventory. Graznak came in at four in the morning to turn on the sprinklers.

"The water will actually freeze on the plants and create a protective barrier," said Graznak.

But even though the sprinklers help, some plants still suffer.

"You know, lilacs and magnolias...they're ahead of where they'd be normally and with night after night of cold they're going to get damaged some," said David Vance, Total Environments Garden Center.

Most plants at Total Environments Garden Center can handle the cold deep in winter, but for the plants that bloomed early the cold has been more damaging than usual.

"If it gets that kind of damage, they won't look so good, and people don't plant plants that look like they've been burnt," said Vance.

For your own plants and shrubs, it's important to try to transfer everything movable indoors. Cover plants that can't be moved with a sheet or frost cloth. Turn a sprinkler on fruit-bearing trees to protect them from damage and remember to give plenty of water to plants that are stressed from the cold. Local growers say even though the cold won't kill their plants, they're hoping for a warmup soon.