The forecast for the next week is showing 4 or 5 nights in a row below freezing. Considering the very warm weather we had during March and all the plants that are in bloom I'm wondering if they should be covered up. I'm thinking of my azaleas in particular. I'm not sure if they are budding early, fooled by the warm weather. I'd appreciate any info about taking care of my yard!
Need advice on upcoming cold weather
I was pretty shocked by the forecast too. In regards to Azaleas: I'm in zone 7b and practically all my azaleas are out! so there's no protecting them anymore. However I already have a bunch of annuals which as of tonight or tomorrow night am going to cover up during the night. It's going to be 31 and 28 F° ! Hard to believe.
This is typical spring weather (dogwood weather or winter). Normally the cold gets the magnolia blooms - this year it looks like it will get a lot of azaleas.
If you feel like covering everything with some kind of blanket material (towels, sheets, plastic sheeting, cardboard, wheat straw, etc.) then this will add a few degrees of protection. We used to do that almost every year until the shrubs got too large - so now the motto is "There's always next year". Take pictures if you want to have any reminders of this time of year's blooms because after Sunday any blooms may be brown mush.
I just put 48 coleus in the ground do I need to cover them? Also my snapdragons are starting to bloom - cover them?
The old-timers always told us not to plant anything delicate before Easter. April frosts are fairly common and we remember at least one snow-storm. I know we all got antsy with the mild weather - hard to resist planting. But, as usual, the oldfolks knew best.
Put plastic pots or cardboard boxes over your tender plants and put a large stone on top just in case of high winds. If you use plastic sheeting, you need to keep it off the foliage to prevent burn (from cold or sun). This should help get everything through a few nights. Low 20's could be another problem though.
CARDBOARD BOXES!!! Great idea... Why didn't I think of that? I was sweating how to save all my salvia, etc., in my hummingbird garden. Now I'll be ready.
I think this is the first time I have been thankful that my azaleas are still small. Small enough to cover with buckets and pots this weekend when the temps plunge and threaten the blooms I have been awaiting for months! The caladiums I planted weeks ago are still well mulched, and if they don't make it I guess I'll just plant more; they were super cheap. Cardboard boxes are a great idea, too!
I put about 3" of pine straw over the coleus. Hope that is enough.
I'm worried about newly planted roses.. What should I do with them? Cover with plastic??
Susan
I am letting mine to their own defenses. You might try covering with a blanket, towel, burlap, etc. and then putting plastic or a tarp over that. If you just lay plastic on top the the leaves then they may get burned where they contact the plastic but most of the leaves should be okay.
The wind chill is predicted to be 10 F but the experts say plants aren't affected by wind chill (hmmmm?).
I have cannas that are coming up and some are already 6-7" tall. Any advice for those?
Susan
Cover them or let them get bitten back down to the ground. They should come back but it will set them back.
The nusery where I bought annuals yesterday (won't go in the ground until after the frost) suggested putting newspaper around the ones I planted two weeks ago, with a sheet on top.
All cannas are tough as nails... not to worry.. they will all come back.
:)
Does anyone know about just planted lillies?? which have sprouted??
Susan
Fortunately, we left our portable greenhouse up. Here are some pix.
As long as it does not frost, lots of times with a low of 34, there will be pockets of colder temps where it will frost. As for too cold, yes, They will probably live, but sulk for a couple of weeks.
I01, I would definitely try to protect those tender veggies. They really don't like temps below 50.
Any advice on Iris, TB or Dutch...do I need to just cut the stalks and bring them in? I have a lot beginning to bloom!
I'm off to COVER COVER COVER. Good luck to all you who, like me, could just not WAIT to plant stuff... and those who, like me, had perennials that just couldn't WAIT to come up! My hummingbird garden is as ready as I am for the hummingbirds. I'll be wrapping and covering it all for the next several nights.
This message was edited Apr 6, 2007 6:07 PM
I covered my 200 + Zinnia babies, DH's potatoes (his very first gardening activity), and my lettuces and onions. Cool weather veggies are on their own in the beds. All the rest of my babies are in the garage hanging out for the weekend. Thank goodness we don't actually USE it for the car ;) Here's to live seedlings for us all on Monday!
Well, Elaine, how did they fair? I hope everything did well, we have one more night I think to worry....at least that was what was being said yesterday, I haven't heard the weather today...
Yes, tonight will be the coldest. Then it will start to warm up. My main concern was the hundreds of tadpoles in our grandson's little wading pool (American Toad). So we hooked up a birdbath heater and a battery-operated "airstone" and they did just fine!
I have a orientrumpet lily called Godzilla. I wanted to see it reach a height of 6' . It's 3' now with drooping foliage from the cold. I will cover it tonight for sure! That's just what I get for paying 12 bucks for one bulb!
I lost a few early sunflowers, and a few of DH's tater tops - all other stuff in the gardens did fine. Zinnias made it through good as well.
Glad to hear not too many problems for you guys!
Hi y'all! I think I was fortunate. So far everything looks ok. We took the jugs off all the tomatoes, and there were a couple of leaves that had a teny tiny white on the edge but I just pinched them off. I don't think it hurt them. I have hostas in huge pots along the back of the house, but they appear to be ok. All my herbs were in the GH with a couple of 75 watt light bulbs, so they all made it, too. I'm not sure about the azaleas, gardenias, tea olive, jasmines, etc ... but since they weren't blooming maybe it didn't affect them. Actually the star jasmine and tea olive was blooming so guess any buds on them are mush. Have been so worried about the maters, I haven't even checked those. They'll probably bloom again, though, won't they?
I'm sorry for everyone who lost favorite flowers. My heart goes out to you. Weather it's to cold or just * because * ... it's always hard to lose a plant. You have to love plants to understand this, so I know y'all know what I'm talking about.
I hope everyone is having a blessed Easter.
We covered the annuals with newspaper and sheets and I think 70 percent survived. However the shrubs fared very badly - especially crape myrtles and hydrangeas. Will they recover? Should they be cut back?
Will my brugs re-leaf out? All the leaves on them are drooping. As are the butterfly bushes.
Are they all goners?
The butterfly bushes will be fine, and I think the crepe myrtles also will all send out more shoots and leaves, I would imagine the brugs would do the same, but I don't grow those (Yet) so I don't know...
My brug bit the dust from the other cold we had, but I had cut it off at the "y" and rooted that piece. I had gone out and cut it down to the ground when this warm weather came ... and there was a little green coming out, so if you cut yours back, it might come out. I piled pine straw on mine, so hope it's going to be ok. This is my first year growing them, though, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this one. :) Good luck!
I wonder how much I can actually cut back, though. They were only rooted cuttings that I had planted in the ground when we had that warm spell. Most of the leaves have that drooping wet look to them. The soil temp was around 50 degrees so maybe the roots didn't get freeze. I'm crossing my fingers that new leaves will grow out.
I would leave them alone, I bet they will be fine...as long as the whole plant didn't freeze, just leaf burn....or should I sy melt.....that is what my crepe myrtles look like, the leaves melted.
That's a perfect description....melt.
Well, the difference is Elaine's was not a new cutting that was recently planted..right? I understood you to mean it was an established plant that you cut back and piled straw over. Deb's were new cuttings she rooted and recently planted into the ground. I don't think it was cold for a long enough period to kill them completely, so they should send new shoots out once they recover from the shock, and get some warmer weather...at least that is what I would expect...lol I am certianly no expert!
Yep, mine had been in the ground for a year. I could tell it was dead by the droopy leaves and the feel of the bark. I cut it off practically to the ground and piled straw over what was left. When the weather turned warm, I had uncovered it to find some green shoots coming off it. Of course, when I found out about this cold snap, I ran out there and piled the straw back on top of it. Hopefully, it's okay. If not, I still have the little piece I rooted. I'll keep this in a pot as it's only about a ft tall.
I've had brugs for several years and they've always come back just like any good perennial. Be patient. Recent transplants may be riskier because they haven't had all summer to put down roots.