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by Lydia Holley February 12, 2024
The recent cold snap may have damaged some of your plants. It was so warm beforehand, it did not give the plants any time to acclimate to icy temperatures. The prolonged freezing temperatures may have been a shock to your plants. When temperatures warm and you get outside to assess the damage, you may find some still looking beautiful. They may not be damaged at all, or it may take some time for damage to show. Some may have been affected but will recover. Others may die. Sometimes the best (but the hardest) thing to do is to wait and see if they will live and not give up too soon. Here is a quick guide to some popularly grown plants:
Cacti are probably dead if they are mush. If your agaves are mushy, it is best to cut to them off at the ground. Then look for new growth in the spring, but be prepared to replace them if they show no signs of life by then.
Cut off any dead leaves on your Sago palms. If the crown is spongy, cross your fingers, but make plans to replace them. Yuccas should be fine, but dead leaves may be removed.
Cut off any damaged tops from your Asian jasmine and English ivy. If your bamboo is damaged, you can cut it back to the ground and it should sprout again from the roots. Some other plants might come back from the roots, too. For instance, Dietes may return even though they technically like a more tropical environment. Cut off any damaged foliage on your cast iron plant. Even if you have to cut it all the way back to just a few inches, it should regrow, albeit slowly.
Vines which will need an individual determination include Carolina jessamine, Confederate jasmine, and creeping fig. The length of time they have been in the ground, whether they were sheltered or in the open, the number of hours they were frozen, and the lowest temperatures you received will all make a difference. Wait until early spring, then cut any dead portions back to new growth.
You may also need to wait until spring to determine the true amount of damage to most shrubs, when you can cut away any dead top growth. Especially vulnerable plants include bay laurels, Indian hawthorns, lavenders, ligustrums, loropetalums, oleanders, pittosporums, and rosemary.
Fruit trees should have weathered the cold well, but check to make certain there are no frost cracks in their trunks. If fig trees are severely damaged, you may need to cut them back. Even if they are cut to the ground, they will usually grow again from the roots. Olive trees can also be cut to the ground if necessary, but do this only if they are not grafted.
In the vegetable garden, onions and potatoes should be fine, but you can dig down to check that they did not rot. Any other winter vegetables that were killed can be dug up. Make plans for planting the appropriate vegetables in spring.
Plants that were left outside in pots are more vulnerable to cold weather than those in the ground. If you have dead plants, whether in pots or in your landscape, look at it as an opportunity to grow something else. Perhaps something you always wanted to grow but did not have the room for before now.
For best results long term, check the planting zones and try not to grow something that does not like our weather—whether that is the heat we have in summer or the cold snaps we get each winter. Every gardener knows, however, even those may succumb to extremes. In gardening, nothing is guaranteed.
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