Texas Gardening: Ready for the freeze.....before and after, 0 by bigbubbles

bigbubbles wrote:
htop....the one in the photo was in a pot. I had to chop it so I could drag the pot to the backyard. The big one that I have in-ground (3 yrs) got a blanket around the trunk, covered with plastic, about 4' up. The top 4' froze. It came back just fine....from the top and the sides of the trunk....and bloomed like crazy in the late spring. This year, I cut it to the ground and just mulched over the trunk (about 3-4" across). I have about four or more that were cuttings that I stuck in the ground a couple of yrs ago. They froze last year, but came back from the roots. This particular brug is more like a weed. It seems to thrive no matter what.
I've rec'd quite a few brug cuttings lately from generous DGers that I hope to enjoy this spring. Looking foward to some "brug variety!" I'll probably keep them in pots till I figure out which ones are fussy....or buggy. I'm nearly out of room for anything else in-ground.
I saw the posting about the pipe insulation and picked some up at HD yesterday! Less than $3. for 4(?). Thought I'd try 'em on one little 4' brug that has multiple trunks. I think the bottom of the insulation would need to be cut into a "flare" to sort of protect the trunk...and then covered with mulch. I think it's a great idea she came up with! If you can protect the trunk, the leaves will come back as soon as it gets warm.

Here's a pic of a brug cutting from the original that I stuck in a huge pot out front this spring to replace a palm that had frozen. The courtyard wall is 5' tall and the house roof line is visible behind brug. It grew quickly. I cut this one to the roots because I'm going to remove the pot and re-do the front bed this spring. And because it looked kind of ragged by the end of summer!
P.S. Thanks for the info about the pineapple guava. I had already planted it in the backyard after first response. Just planting it made the leaf color darken. It seems to be very happy now. Looking forward to blooms in the spring.
Sandi