Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Happy Birthday ricfl, 1 by plantladylin

plantladylin wrote:
It sure was a winter to remember for Florida. What a shame those beautiful palms were hit! It was just so cold for so many nights, most tropical plants couldn't survive. Over here on the east coast we've had 20's at night over the years but it usually warms up considerably when the sun rises ... this winter we had many days where it never got above the upper 30's!! It sure made me want to move to the islands!! I hope I never see another winter like it.

I had a large Schefflera tree in the backyard that was taller than the house. I planted it as a little skinny, short house plant many years ago. It had been through some cold nights in past winters but nothing like we experienced this year when it totally froze. I had my husband get his chain saw out and cut it back to about 2' of trunk and I planted Clematis vines to grow around and over it.

This was the tree on November 9, 2009