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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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‘Your plants don’t feel wind chill’ and other freeze-protection tips from an expert
Posted Jan 4, 2010 by Loren Omoto
Updated Jan 4, 2010 at 07:28 PM
One freezing night down, probably two more to go and we’re all worrying, even the scientist gardeners—you know, the ones you’d expect to have a clinical circle-of-life perspective.
“I’m already seeing black on some of our plants in the garden out here. It’s looking kind of sad. It gets really cold out here,” Sydney Park Brown said today from her office at the University of Florida’s Plant City satellite. “The sweet potato vine, the pentas look rough ... And it’s supposed to get cold again, maybe even colder, next weekend.”
How to minimize the damage?
Protect plants with coverings—not plastic—that extend all the way to the ground, says Sydney, a 30-year Hillsborough County gardener and the state extension specialist for consumer horticulture.
If the coverings are not plastic, it doesn’t matter whether they lay right on top of the plants, or if they’re left on until the forecast warm-up on Thursday.
But it’s important the covers come all the way to the ground, maybe anchored there with a gnome.
“Plants don’t feel the wind chill; it’s not like putting a sweater on them,” she says. “The covers are to trap the heat coming off the soil.”
Don’t try spraying water on them, like the strawberry farmers do, because you’ll waste a lot of water, probably get a citation from the water police, and do your plants more harm than good.
The farmers’ technique involves spraying huge volumes of water at regular intervals when the temperature is in the danger zone. As the water on the plant freezes, it releases just enough heat to keep the plant at 32 degrees or higher. So it’s not the ice that helps the plant, it’s the continuous process of spraying and freezing. That’s a LOT of water.
Speaking of water, the cold has probably sent most of our landscape plants into dormancy, so forget about watering them for a couple weeks. The rain that preceded this front should have provided enough moisture to help the soil trap heat, Sydney says.
But if we start getting a very windy cold—which sucks the moisture out of the leaves—she says a good soil-watering may help.
Even if your plants look a bit shocky and frost-bitten when they start to warm up, if they’re valuable to you, keep protecting them through the weekend. Many plants may lose their leaves and limbs, but will come back from the ground in the spring.
(The photo at top is from a freeze last January. And guess what? The pansy came back.)
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Janna) on January 04, 2010
Thank you, Penny and Sydney. I commented on the last post that I hadn’t noticed any damage, but this evening, I saw my small banana tree - droopy and brown. I also noticed some damage on the ‘orange marmalade’ that I’ve since moved to the covered lanai. (Big pot to haul!)
The thought of my little flower garden turning brown makes me want to cry, but my prayers for warmer weather are especially with commercial growers (including Rick Brown, of course) and our FODs (namely Chip and Eric) who have crops to protect…
C’mom, this is the SUNSHINE state - we need some WARMTH here.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on January 05, 2010
I have a sea of brown and my heart hurts. The only spot of color left is the pansies, petunias, roses and that adorable hollyhock—-my new winter favorite. This is torture plain and simple.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on January 05, 2010
You are my hero Penny. Pruning will take up most of my time come spring with all that looks so bad out there. They are all on plants that recover but they were so dang pretty just as they were. The vines on the fences are the bear. And then to wait for them to come all the way back. Ah! Nature. She likes to test our patience. Who knew there were so many micro climates in the Tampa area.
So far the stuff on the porch looks fine. Whew! I wonder if I should cover that too just in case?
Posted by (Janna) on January 06, 2010
Susan, my heart is breaking for you! I remember that sinking feeling last year when my yard turned into a barren wasteland. BUT, we gardeners persevere. We must. Luckily, we FODs have eachother to help replenish our gardens with new cuttings and seeds.
Penny, I like your “bright side.” It will be a good time for garden clean-up and with any luck, this cold weather will choke out some weeds and bugs.
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on January 06, 2010
Thanks Janna. I appreciate that. We have frost on the grass this morning. Just how cold did it get last night? But you are right. All the cuttings and seeds I had was why my garden looked so good in the first place. We are resilient and this too shall pass. This better be killing off a lot of those bugs though.
Posted by (Chip) on January 06, 2010
Susan when I checked at 3am it was 27 deg. I check at three am because that is when it is at its coolest. not always if say a cold front moves in after three a.m. it would be colder then but for the most part it is a good bench mark. I check to make sure nothing has come undone and feed the cats so they will not panic when they see me. a little brown isn’t all bad next week we will all know some damage hopefully it will not be so bad…“Chip”