I am outside of Chicago and we had several 70 degree days. Well all of our stuff started to blossom and now we are below freezing and in the teens at night. Can anyone tell me if my lilacs, clematis, silver lace, roses and other similar perennials are permanently damaged? They have just curled up and died. It breaks my hopeful heart!
brrrrrrr cold weather
I am sorry brenb. I do not know about permanent damage. I live in Kansas and we have a similar situation. All my perennials were up and going and we had snow last night! It is suppossed to get below freezing tonight. Does anyone know if you should cover up things like hostas and other plants? Some still have snow on them.
hi i live in northern illinois near the wisconsin border. my tulips, hycinths, peonies, poppys, lillies, dead nettle, violets,lungwort,columbine, catmint. ( too many more to list) all look horrid. they are all wilty lookin and droopy. i am soo mad. i ran around putting towels, blankets sheets on the most precious stuff but i think it was too late. i am so disgusted i could cry. i thought i would be able to uncover them today but its is still so cold and windy i think its even colder! i have been gardening for years ..(.obsessively for about 10) i have never experienced temps in my garden this low in april. i have no idea if my covers will help or hinder. i am praying for warmth!!! i have several seedlings ready to be transplanted to larger pots after which i usually put them in my portable greenhouse. i cant even use the greenhouse its too darn cold... its sits empty!! maybe someone else out there knows. my baby columbine look the worst. i started them from seed last fall. its good to hear someone else out there as frustrated as i am!! kathy
Kathy,
So sorry to hear. It got below freezing here last night. I covered up as much as I could but not sure if it was too late. I am almost afraid to look. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow. I haven't been seriously gardening as long as you, but I can't remember getting a freeze so late here. I have spent the last two weeks running around my yard snapping pictures of plants. I just couldn't believe how fast they "sprung" up this year. Good thing I got those pics because I am not sure they will look the same again. My DH said, "well, you will get to experience Spring again this year"....I hope he is right.
hey agebhart, i dont think, according to the weatherman.. we are expecting any sort of warm up anytime soon. it was 17 this morning! i peeked at the stuff this am, and it looks about the same as it did b4 i covered it. bad! in the beginning of the week they said it might get up to 50 on easter sunday.. now they are saying high 30s. frustrating! i am bored being inside. i will get some dirt and transplant my beans to bigger pots. just to have something to feed my green thumb! happy easter... kathy
Thanks Kathy. You have a happy Easter too! Guess, I'll have to start cleaning my severely neglected house since I have been outside playing and rejoicing in the "Spring" the last couple of weeks.
Can I join in too? My star magnolia started to bloom, then wilted, same with my tulips. Shouldn't it be a wee bit warmer by this time?!? I thought I'd do some yard cleaning today and put on my "snowsuit", but darn it, I was still cold! I even had to put the warmer back in the bird bath. Hurry warmer weather! We'll have to wait and see what our poor little flowers do....
Seems as we all are in the same boat. ALL the garden, even the Japanense Maples got hit really hard. A suprise snow fall for us and now temps in the lower teens. I sure hope things bounce back as the weather warms but it's not looking likely. SAD in NC.
Yes, it looks like it hit many of us, gldandrews and Lainimoo. It is sad. I guess that is part of the "challenge" of gardening. We can't do anything about the weather. This is the first year I have lost plants to spring freeze but last year it was spring hail that damaged many of my plants, then the roofers who replaced the hail damaged roof finished many of them off...I am wondering how many of the the nurseries that I order plants from fared in this weather...???
What a depressing, frustrating "spring" we're all having! Pardon my venting, just needed to commiserate. It looks like temps won't get out of the 40's for "highs" until at least Friday the 13th. I was soooo hoping for a warm-up this week.
I've transferred a few portable potted plants into the garage, even the pots of pansies I bought at Home Depot. Had just bought 3 Mount Airy fothergilla which I didn't get planted before the chill hit us, so they are outside covered in plastic, and I hope they survive.
At least it hasn't snowed here like it has in NE Ohio. Although, at least snow provides insulation!
OK - Let's look at the upside - first when the warm weather gets here we will REALLY, and I mean REALLY appreciate it. Secondly, many times I have had plants face this type of adversity and come out more beautiful and stronger than before! LOL - ok I'm just trying to keep from wallowing in my great depression! Even my little greenhouse full of seedlings went below freezing!! Boohoo :(
brenb,
You are right. I will appreciate the warmer weather more now. And just like people, a little adversity makes us stronger. I took the covers off my plants this afternoon and some things look okay and other things look like wilted lettuce. I am more worried about my three very large Bradford pear trees. They had just leafed out and the foliage is very wilted. This is what they looked like 2 weeks ago. I have 2 on the north side of my house and one on the south side. It was a beautiful canopy of white flowers!
hi my bad weather friends!, i looked at a bunch of the stuff i covered and the worst seems to be my honeysuckle vine. the leaves look like they are translucent black. my tulips are really wilted too. the good news is i covered my lungwort and it looked so bad i thought i lost it all and after almost a week undercover it looks much better. same with the poppys so i kept them covered. the columbine looked about the same so i uncovered part of it and covered another to see the difference.i just wish i was quicker at covering my tulips and other stuff . i too think this is easily the WORST spring (as far as cold) ever. the forcast is rain every day this week ( which we never get since this weather forcast comes out of chicago and usually misses us), and... its supposed to be sunny and 60 degrees on sunday!!! i am praying that 4 once the prediction is actually right. i have been spending alot of time cleaning my piggy house bcuz i just cant stand to b 0ut in the cold. its good to have company! happy spring! kathy
Freeze Recovery Information from Tennessee Master Gardeners
Freeze Recovery for Urban Landscapes
What happens to plants during a late freeze? Young green leaves and flowers can get zapped during late spring cold snap. So what exactly happens? In some plants the cell inside the leaves and stems froze and the cell membrane ruptured killing that part of the plant tissue, not necessarily the whole plant. At night plants take in water vapors, carbon dioxide and oxygen through small opening on the leaves called stomates. Others might have wilted. In these plants water escaped from the leaves and plant cells too quickly due to a rapid drop temperature. Cells in the plant actually deflated causing the tissue to wilt (in horticulture we call this epinasty).
Due to the freeze, flowers and tender buds may be lost on plants that flower on old growth like some hydrangeas and some climbing roses. Plants that bloom on new growth, such as crape myrtle and butterfly bush may still bloom- only later, after they have recovered.
What happens now? Will my plants survive? There are many answers. It will depend on how your plant reacted to the cold night temperatures, its location in your garden, the type of plant, or its genetic fortitude. Plants that appear to be only wilted and perk back up when the sun comes out (like some hosta, daylily, or rhododendron) should be fine. Later in the season they may exhibit puckered or stunted leaves or may have a “sunburn” look.
Few may have brown or black spots on the leaves where plant cell membranes did ruptured, killing that tissue. Other plants like some Japanese maples, crape myrtle and bigleaf hydrangea are much more sensitive to the cold night temperatures.
If you notice leaves that look water-soaked (imagine lettuce frozen in the back of the refrigerator) this tissue is dead and won’t re-hydrate. This Does Not Mean the Plant is Dead! Adopt a wait-and-see attitude, some plants may re-leaf and bounce back just fine. Most likely all these plants will have brown and black tissue which can be removed later in the season (more about that below).
So what to do now? Two words… Wait and Water.
Wait to dig or remove any plant material. In a few months you will know if it will survive the summer. For those plants that have lost all of the new leaves to the freeze it will be difficult to regenerate new leaves if there is not enough starch stored up in the root system for “another spring”- they will need extra water for this recovery. Water will allow wilted leaves to re-hydrate.
For trees, water deeply twice weekly. Monitor your plant and if you see leaves start to droop, check the soil moisture around the roots and add more if it seems dry. Keep stressed plants mulched this summer to retain moisture around the roots.
Do Not Prune- Pruning can stimulate excessive growth, these plants are stressed, give them time to recover. Give some plants, especially trees a year before severe pruning. Dead foliage can be carefully cut away, but this is not necessary for recovery. The trick is to not to cut too much off the plant.
Do Not Fertilize- Fertilizing now with nitrogen may cause the plant to leaf too quickly instead of giving it time to recover. Trees and shrubs should not be fertilized until next winter. If you had already fertilized, make sure plants receive ample water to use the excess fertilizer.
Beth Babbit, Urban Horticulture Specialist,
Plant Sciences Department Univerristy of Tennessee Extension
4/10/07
Freeze Recovery for Urban Landscapes
What is the future of my garden?
The damaged tissue at the tips of stems was the growing point for future growth. Tip dieback may cause you plant to look different. In most trees and shrubs you can selectively prune to redirect growth to rebuild the form of your plant (next year). The leaves manufacture a plant’s food to be stored for the next growing season.
If plants aren’t able to store enough food this year they may not make it next year.
But don’t lose hope! Remember: Your garden is also a small ecosystem. The living rudiments that allow your garden or landscape to be viable are both good and bad: plants/weeds, soil, insects, bacteria, fungus, worms, plants, birds and other critters. Each part of this system depends on the other. This freeze may have reduced these populations or will reduce the food sources for them in the coming months.
Pay attention. You may see some changes in your garden’s seasonal routine, greening may be slower, the color may not be as brilliant as last year and you may not see as much activity from the critters this year.
Don’t fret the future of your garden! Look forward each day to see how Mother Nature uses unexpected changes to open new opportunities in the garden. Water-soaked leaves on hosta Wilting on Annabelle hydrangea Leaf burn on oakleaf hydrangea “Sun burned look” on daylily
Beth Babbit, Urban Horticulture Specialist,
Plant Sciences Department Univerristy of Tennessee Extension
4/10/07
loon thanks for the info! very helpful. did you get snow tuesday night? we got about 5" with severe winds... my stuff... believe it or not does look better after the snow! especially the lungwort which was in full bloom. still around 35 at night. but i looked at one of my tulips and it looks like its trying to open! kathy
I second that. Thank you for the information Loon. I was wondering what to do but almost afraid to research it for fear it would be all bad news. I didn't get as much freeze as some of my above bad weather friends. Hang in there - warm weather will be here soon!
Great information Loon. I did see some new growth on a couple of the frozen plants, just in time for the snow! I'm hoping what doesn't kill them will make them stronger! Thanks!
Hi agebhart, what is the plant in your photo (your April 7 posting) with the reddish pink flower buds? Looks a little like some sort of ladysmantle. Beautiful combination of plants!
This message was edited Apr 13, 2007 12:21 PM
When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose
From the song "The Rose"
Thank you Figaro52,
That is a Avens, Geum Flames of Passion. I have had it in my little redbud shade garden for three years but this is the first year it bloomed. It is amazing because even after the freeze last weekend and the slushy snow last night it is still holding its blooms.
Agebhart, thanks. I like ornamental plants like that. It's funny how certain plants respond to certain conditions. Gardening has its share of surprises. And, thankfully, not all of them are bad. I hope we're about finished with the cold freezing weather!
today it is my day off. of course it is only 44 with spitting rain. ive been going out to my portable greenhouse 3 times a day. the weather is so goofy i had to put an electric heater with a thermostat in it . i am afraid it might die(the heater) and i will lose everything. i received my order from jungs. it was gorgeous yesterday. but of course i worked till 730 pm. and today is out of the question for planting anything. my tomato plants are about half the size they were last year. slow growing this year, not enough heat or sun. of course we got the rain barrel installed and cut the gutter so there will b no rain... at least not enough to fill it. supposed to b beautiful his weekend. spent last weekend shoveling horse poop for my new bed. frustrating... hoping for a warmup soon.. kathy
Hi Kathy,
I live in the SW suburbs and we've not been hit as hard as you folks farther to the north. However, my Astilbes have crispy leaves now, and I noticed my Japanese tree lilac has brown crispy tips on all the leaves. Many hosta tips have turned white.
Good luck to you! I hope your greenhouse heater doesn't conk out.
Well it looks like our weather is going to warm up! I have some mail order perennials in my garage that I am going to plant this weekend. My tulips perked up a bit and the star magnolia is trying very hard to produce a few more blossoms. I imagine that most of you in the Midwest will be out digging in your gardens this weekend too.
figaro52, thanks for the best wishes. so far so good. yesterday it was sunny but still cold. i went to home depot to check out the new perrenials and came home and the heater was running in the greenhouse., i transplanted all the maters with their second set of leaves to dixie cups. keep up the faith, i too have a japanese lilac. i planted for my doggie when he passed away. it is really well protected next to my fence. hopefully we will both get lots of nice blooms to bring inside!