I have bananas and canas also some palms new to south some people say let them go they will come back. some say cut back use pine straw.also jasmine vines?dont know what to do. should i also cut back newly planted lady rose bushes? please help i spent all summer taking care of these dont want to loose them. already brought in elephant ears doing well under grow lights.thankyou
winterizing?help help
Nancy
I'm pretty sure you are in zone 8a rather than 8b, its a little colder up there than it is here on the GA/FL border. I'll help with what I know from here but hopefully some others will chime in.
Here in 8b I let the cold hit cannas and bananas, also firespike, ginger and Angels trumpets. When they react to the cold it sends them into dormancy, and it's pretty easy to tell. (some turn black, some just look awful)
I then cut them to the ground and either pile on the pine straw or in the case of the angels trumpet cover it with an inverted plastic pot and then mound pine straw over that.
this applies to plants in the ground. The above mentioned plants are root hardy in 8b and hopefully in 8a.
I don't have any palms and am uncertain which are hardy in your zone.
Personally I would hold back on pruning roses until they are more dormant. I'll let someone else answer on the jasmine- (which jasmine do you have???) most are evergreen in my zone.
hope this helps! Please, someone further north chime in! This lady needs some Southern hospitality!!!
Erin (plantnutga)......... who is busy freaking out about all of her tender tropical bulbs and aloes in little pots and her Plumeria also her orchids and orchid cacti that will be most unhappy tonight!!!!!
This message was edited Nov 18, 2008 7:11 AM
thankyou for your reply. i am in middle ga.about 40 min from macon if that helps.i have a jasmine bush and vines and swweetcarolina vines.when we put them in it was late may no one at the nursery told us it was late to do this. we have been in the yard seriosly since. we had 16 umbrellas up and put in a drip system to water them. see we planted like we would up north. although it was a nightmare we lost nothing but 1 jap weeping maple that we were told full sun. i never heard of winterizing things before thats y i want to do it right that way maybe next summer i can go to the store lol. thankyou for your input i apreciate it alot. nancy
Could you be more specific about your plants? Do you have true umbrella palms, Hedyescepe canterburyana 'Umbrella Palm', or do you have Cyperus alternifolius, 'Umbrella Palm'? Both are in Plant Files. I know both and can advise accordingly. Cyperus a. is pretty cold hardy. I have left mine in a small pond and in a pot outside here in Atlanta, but protected in hard freezes. It is fine. Hedy. c. is not freeze hardy. It may or may not come back.
Erins advice about cannas and others is right on (sorry about your freak out Erin) It's tough living on the edge.
There are lots of Jasmines that are hardy and those that are very tender. Do you mean Carolina jessamine (also in Plant Files)? It's very hardy. What is your jasmine bush and do you know what kind of vines? Since you are living in a zone that can delicately handle the tough and the tender, it is important that you know the tolerance for temp. shift of your plants. You are probably more vulnerable than some to temps, but have a greater variety of options than others.
Laurel
BTW, bananas can die down and come back, but you'll have trouble with fruiting. The ones I grew up with are usually setting hands about now. The FL gardeners on the north end of the state are worrying about their bananas now.
L
My jasmine has lived outside in it's pot now for about five years......wasn't sure where I wanted to plant it. The elephant ears, angel trumpets and cannas also stay in their pots outside. There are a few areas in my planting zone that seem to be micro climates, some plants returning that normally don't. It could be due to the vast tree cover over this particular area. You've gotten some good advice from others here. This split-leaf philodendron even came back this year. Good luck.
