March 1 , 2021
Freeze-dried Gardens: Mayhem, Mush, or Marvelous Comeback?
feel a little bleak?Don’t desperation : Nature is here ! Spring starflowers sway off the Charles Percy Snow and pop flop back up . blowball were fresh as daisies under their wintry cover . Surviving bees and other tiny pollinators can sure practice them since our garden are indeed nutrient comeupance right now . But yes , our common bounce cleanup ingest a dramatic roundabout way after a record - breaking 144 sequent hour below freeze , include Sir David Low to 7 and 9 degrees . Will our plant life make it through Snowvid 2021 ? Some will and some wo n’t . For many of them , only time will recount . Right now , we ’ve got to step away and lease them mend .
Factors that bear upon flora survival and recovery• How well establish ( unexampled planting will hurt most)• Location ( northerly or southern photograph , hilltop , side , proximity to house , stone walls , etc.)• Soil wet ( sadly , soil was very dry before the freeze)• Plant health• Plant origin• Cold hardiness
Our rollercoaster weather did n’t help . In other areas of the land , plants acclimatize to ever - colder temperatures in winter . Instead , we yo - yo from warm day in the fourscore to freeze temps and back into the 80s . Many plants did n’t even go sincerely dormant and were flower just the workweek before , like these now - blackened shrimp plant . Two workweek after snowfall , now we ’re showered with falling leaves from mountain laurels , yaupon hollies , and aboriginal live oak trees ( among others ) . Live oaks were presently to throw off , anyway . prospicient - terminus damage may not evident decently away , so keep an eye on pop or splitting bark . For now , only rationalise off conk out limb . Freeze - dried : Most likely we ’ll lose flock laurel ’s fragrant outflow superstar — those fluffy purplish flowers that waft grape Kool - Aid scents across town . Still , we could still be surprised!My aboriginal Mexican plum was a few day by from flowering . Although the round was cut off , the tree diagram should be ok . you’re able to check woody plants with the abrasion trial , a trick my dada learn me long ago . Crape myrtles , viburnums , and others can be harm by extreme cold . Scratch the bark with your fingernail to see if it ’s green underneath .
My pineapple guava showed green , but I ’m not taking that to the bank just yet . In any case , evergreen plant leave on many plants will look blanched and fall off . No clue how the bay laurel will fare . Roses look middling dreaded . Many will make it just fine . My Lady Banks climb could sure enough recount you stories , so I go for this one is n’t the last ! For now , fend off pruning until you see new bud growth . Rosemary and lavenders are probably account , but my oregano is fine .
Most in all probability we ’ll have to get going over with citrus plants , but we ’ll sleep together better soon . Grafted plants may return on their sour orange rootstock , so interchange them .
Lawn grass take up a hit . Again , we ’ll have a good estimate in a month or so . aboriginal works that were torpid anyway should be all right , though cultivar of natives may not be so hardy . We were going to cut them back this calendar month anyway . My native skeleton - leafage Bucephela clangula is now gray instead of slightly hibernating two weeks ago . TheLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centernow advises to leave the browned foliage : “ If we have a light frost in early March , that ‘ unsightly ’ foliage can protect rosettes + roots ( and avail protection wildlife ) . Wait until you embark on to see buds swell on the stems or Modern ontogenesis coming from the base of the flora before you ‘ straighten out up ’ ( in about a calendar month ) . ”
We may have to cut our native Barbardos cherry shrubby trees to the ground . I ’ve had to do it before and they returned just fine . Others have n’t been so favourable : position , location , location ! expect for now . The Wildflower Center reports that bluebonnets are all right , appreciative of the wet as they spurt towards possibility Clarence Day . My aboriginal babe gamy eyes ( Nemophila menziesii ) look to be on objective for March / April blossoms . Golden groundsel ( Packera obovata ) could n’t wait to get the bloom show rolling ! This native , evergreen perennial unremarkably attracts tiny pollinator to its golden flowers . Coneflowers are fine . aboriginal asters are pumping out little potato against undaunted native spiderwort . Texas sedges look a shade burned but that ’s also from summertime ’s rut and drouth . They gain from a light shearing in springiness , anyway . Spuria iris are felled , though the rhizomes may be fine . My Yucca pallida appears unscathed , but the prognosis is still out on Mediterranean Ag bush germander ( Teucrium fruiticans ) . It ’s looking worse every Clarence Day . Fortunately , it ’s a fast grower if I decide to get another . Many agaves will sustain , like myAgave celsii . concord to Mary Irish in her bookYuccas , Agaves , and Related Plants , it has withstood 12 ° in eastern Texas . The center cores seem firm to me , but it ’s still former years . Some say to avoid pruning off the soppy leaves in rules of order to protect the core during these unpredictable March weather day . Others say to remove them before they get really disgusting ! Whatever you do , wear long mitt if you have any sensitiveness to the toxic sap .
Agave striataandA. bracteosaare ok in their containers , even though their hardiness is stag at 15 ° .Mushy prickly pear tree wo n’t recuperate , but you could cut off solid pads to start over . Let them dry out out for a few days . For now , pot up into containers with well - drained , granular soil and keep warm . In 2010 after a 17 ° polish off that January 9th , Jeff Pavlat from theAustin Cactus and Succulent Societyjoined us with wind about freeze damage cactus , aloe , and agave plants . Watch his on - butt bakshis .
He compiledthis tilt of various succulents and their cold permissiveness range , take note that many factors contribute to a particular plant ’s selection .
Tropicals , subtropicals , and native plants just outside their hardiness zone may or may not return . deflect cutting back aright now . Firecracker fern , native to Mexico , may total back , but it will take metre . Some of mine never recovered from the 2017 freeze . If plants are schmalzy , like my spuria iris , daylilies , and crinums , you may cut them back . Palm trees : Texas natives like Sabal minor and Sabal texana should be fine . Others may not make it . Wait to see new growth , but it could take month .
cycad , also call sago palms , may make it back , but again , it will be months . Nurseries are compiling information and lists as tight as they can , so check in with them . Here is just one , an extensive list compile by Backbone Valley Nurseryin Marble Falls . observe that this is just a road map and that your experience may vary .
Last hebdomad , I advert an excellent webinar , “ Backyard Gardens Winter Storm Recovery , ” presented by a squad of Texas A&M AgriLife university extension specialists and expert . determine it here for their statewide perceptions .
And about the nipped Leucojums and blooming Algerian iris diaphragm asfreezing conditions hit ? Look at them now!Thanks for stopping by ! Linda
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