Examining Cold Damage in the Garden – In this video I look at the cold damage in the garden from this past weekend’s cold snap. I won’t take action on it until the late winter or early spring.
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28 Comments
Seeing very similar results here in central Oklahoma. Thanks for sharing some advice and info with us.
Thank you for good info on what is on every gardener’s mind right now. Few days ago FedEx brought me some Japanese maples and the 1 gallon pots were frozen solid. How long can roots stay frozen before permanent damage sets in? They seem fine now. Thanks again!
The cold was so deep & how long it stayed below freezing was so long, I'm thinking I've had lots of damage in N. Georgia. We had a dusting of snow last night but temps weren't that bad. Had a low of 2° & 48 hours below freezing. Oddly, my AccuWeather told me air quality was excellent & I should "enjoy my usual outdoor activities" 😧
I'm saving any gift money I got for replacement plants come spring.
Thanks Jim, great information! ⛄️❄️💚🙃
Ah, I was just wondering about this today xD my hydrangeas had tried to bud fresh leaves that got bit by the sudden cold lol.
With your opening line, I must reconsider what did some plants in. Freeze cloth or sheets worked well on some, but not all. Lawn bags mostly failed. Wooden clothes pins are no match for wind. Surprisingly, the covered tea olive's red leaves and flowers turned brown, but the confederate jasmine and coral honeysuckle look fine.
I am just crossing all my fingers and toes that this spring everything makes it.
I got down to 8 here in Franklinton about 25 miles north of Raleigh. I did protect some of my more sensitive things. With me being in a more rural outlying area I have had a lot more nights in the mid and upper 20s here then Raleigh has, how ever I think the duration of freezing is what did a lot of the damage here. My ground is still frozen solid despite it being 43 right now.
I’d be pretty surprised if your agapanthus didn’t come back, because for me in zone 6a Buffalo, the temperature will often plummet & they’ll do that and they’ll just come back fine the next year. It got down to about 9° or so in my garden but we also got 3 to 4 feet of snow! So I can’t see some of my plants still!
In zone 5b Cleveland Ohio with temps of -1 and with wind chill -25 for a week and I had just planted a beautiful Japanese maple this fall but didn’t drop any leaves during the cold weather . Hopefully it will survive these harsh temps
Super informative video! I have several hellebores as well, and I didn’t know about their “anti-freeze.” Good to know!
We got down to -1 outside of Memphis! Before we left I covered plants in leaves. We shall see what we come home to in a couple days 🙏🏼
My smaller butterfly bushes look the same. I will wait for another day to uncover my more tender stuff.7B MS We got down to 5. Power was shut off by power co for 30 min.(roving planned blackout) Greenhouse dropped to just below freezing but no damage as it didn’t last long.
My 7a (NJ) had following casualties – i) Madison Confederate Jasmine ii) Camellia October Magic Pink Perplexion iii) Yuletide Camellia (considerable damage but will survive). What has survived i) More hardy camellias rated 6B or higher ii) Little Galaxy Agapanthus.
I'm so grateful for your expertise, Jim. Thank you! Because of watching your earlier video on cold protection, I did cover my Farfugium and Fatsia Spider's Web, which are planted together against the house and luckily, they came out fine. I did not cover a Foster's #2 Holly tree I had just planted around 2 weeks before the storm, but it didn't have any cold damage, thankfully. I had an uncovered Sage plant in a terra cotta pot that I forgot about come out just fine, that's a tough plant! I'm NC zone 8a, I think the coldest we got down to was 19, so we were very lucky.
What would happen if we simple just CUTBACK our plants (not sure what the date would be) in the 'Start of Winter' especially if they are not asleep? This is the 3rd year now with these quick winter storms and we cannot seem to protect them.😔 Zone 8A got 5 days at 9,11, 18, 22
Thanks for great information! I had to lower my expectations for what comes back in the spring. We dropped to -40 wind chill here in N. KS for several days. It was a once in a generation or lifetime cold snap. Most the things I planted could possibly withstand our -20 wind chills but not -40. It will be surprising to see what made it through this crazy cold winter.
Wow! An antifreeze? Amazing! There is hope for my collection.
Florida Anise has a pitiful wilt in the cold (especially during this cold snap).. but seems to go into and out of wilt with grace. It was 10F here & I didn’t have a chance to protect it so we’ll see.. still wilted this afternoon. My Rosemary has 5 green leaves the rest are black 😢 Some of my pansies look sad.. the smaller ones. How did your pansies and violas do in the cold?
I’m in zone 7A my rosemary turned brown , we got down to around 2 degrees for for about 10 hours
It's interesting to see the difference that can exist between two locations that are both in zone 7b. We got down to 3 degrees over the weekend, which would be zone 7a I believe. Now we used to be listed as zone 7a until the last zone revision, so this isn't that surprising. Have survived this cold spell fairly unscathed, but it is always interesting which plants suffer the most damage. Great information for preparing for the next cold spell.
I've been wondering exactly WHY this storm has created more garden damage here in my zone 8, Central Texas location, than the infamous Snowmageddon storm we experienced a couple of years ago.
While the nights in this storm have been the coldest temperatures below freezing, some of the days have been well above freezing.
And I believe you stating the damage incurred will have everything to do with how fast it gets cold, along with severe wind also being a factor, must be the difference.
I'm a long-time gardener here in zone 8, but I don't have ANY zone 5 and 6 Winter gardening experience!
Which is what the temperatures these storms have brought to us these past 3 years.
My Zone 8, is supposed to be around 20° as the coldest.
I realize this is just a guide based on our past weather averages, and there's no guarantee on any of it.
And while I'm knowledgeable about winterizing, covering, and generally protecting plants for zone 8 conditions, as well taking care for a very short, even more severe, cold snap, these past 3 years of
SUPER COLD STORMS
are all a big learning experience for me!
For instance, in this Christmas storm, all my thicker leaved daffodils that already had leaves up (which is normal for Daffs down here) they are now severely damaged with the leaves above the ground turned to mush.
However, the Daffs right next to them, with extremely thin leaves, are not showing any damage at all.
The damage from the Snowmageddon storm was very consistent by killing ALL my daffodils. Of coarse, the ones in pots, even though they were covered with a sheet froze completely, as well as ALL the daffodils in the ground too!
By contrast, right now, my Bearded Iris is showing about a 50% mush factor.
(Even though they were heavily mulched with leaves.)
This is the one plant reaction I was most curious about since it basically danced through the consistent Snowmageddon temps of -5° for 6 days straight, with zero damage from that storm.
Which I was amazed about!
Of coarse, they later expressed their dislike for that storm by refusing to flower that year!
But that's just Iris, being Iris.
Aside from the snow cover we got in Snowmageddon supposedly being a "blanket of insulation", (which turned out NOT to be true for most everything), the biggest difference in these 2 storms has been this one having temperature swings of 25° to 40°or more from days to nights.
And now my iris is at half mush,
and SOME of the daffodils have been compromised.
Of coarse, I'm still holding out hope for the Daffs who were still all the way underground !
I'm not sure I'll ever get this SUPER COLD WEATHER
thing figured out so I can have Daffodils come back every year!
I sure hope this weather isn't permanent!
But if it is –
Maybe I'll be able to have Tulips too?
Signed,
Trying To Look On The Bright, Colorful Side In The South…
Zone 6b. We went from 45 Friday morning to a very windy 4 overnight, and it hasn't been above freezing since. The only thing I covered was an Illicium, planted in the spring. Uncovered it this afternoon and it's a little squished from the blanket, but looks fine. I rake leaves onto my beds and shrubs, and most have been dormant for awhile. I took a tour at lunch today, and several things look pretty unhappy, but none look dead. But winter is only beginning. 🙂
OK, wait to cut anything back until weeks or months later. But what about now? Should we water to protect from more freezes coming this winter? I'll continue to cover the newer plants but don't have enough material to protect them all.
We're in 6b NW Arkansas. The quick severe drop hit my Sunshine Ligustrums…they're brown now but mature…hopefully will leaf out in spring. Tomorrow is forecasted at 55! This weather is crazy!
In zone 8a. Had a Chinese fringe tree where the leaves on top have turned brown. Can I prune the top branches on it? I assume I will lose the spring blooms this year at the top. We had five days below freezing at night. Unusual.
Thank you for showing the covers coming off and how the plants responded.
I love the look of hellebores but live in zone 9b. Anything sneaky I can do to get them to grow in my area? Containers?