AH, I am crying some frozen tears. I went outside and alot of my normally hardy plants are looking quite dead today. Agaves and some cacti I have had for years and always left outside are mushy piles of pitiful goo. Does anyone know if they might be root hardy? Unfortunately I have a lot of pots and those I am certain are dead...
Cheryl
Cold Not So Hardy!
I am surprised, I have one potted Amereican agave and one Lace cactus and they are both fine, I guess it depends on which kind they are.
I don't know about root hardy.
Josephine.
Well, I know that Aloe Vera can be killed by severe cold...have had a few killed in the past. My chollas can be a little damaged, but so far no serious problems. I think the Lace Cactus will be okay, but not sure about tonight. Might get 15 degrees or lower tonight, hoping for the best.
All the blue agave are fine but I have several that are supposed to be zone 8 hardy that are green/yellow etc and they are not well.
C
My Columbine has been looking fine until today. Now it is wilted and limp. So is all of my evergreen Blue Crown passi. Hopefully the tops are all that has been effected. We are finally suppose to be above freezing today. So watch out everyone, there will be busted pipes everywhere. May as well get the tool ready to turn off the water and the number ready to call Water Dept about street leaks.
I just want to be able to put more water in the pond and run the sprinkler again once before the next freeze. I have loads of seeds that I should have sewn in the Fall, but never did. Should get myself busy with seeding indoors, but just not interested right now.
Fingers crossed for no busted pipes! I haven't been watering much and I think I will start. I guess if a few die it will give me the opportunity to try something new. The perennials I started in the fall might be gonners too and that is a worry. I had this vision of all those plants busting out in the spring and making a lush display. What can you do, nature will always have her way.
C
That is for sure, no busted pipes, Please !!!!
I have several cactus that are dead. They've been outside for several years with no protection and no problems until now. I had a 6 foot tall pencil cactus that's gone and another one that I don't know the name of that was 7 feet tall with branches and it's gone too. My favorite is one that looked a little like winter kale, but was a succulent. It was gorgeous and even though I covered it, it's dead. My agaves look like the ends are burned, but I think they'll survive. The aloe is a goner. I'm even wondering if my oleanders might not make it.
Crow
I will have to go out and assess the situation, of course with the plants that are dormant at this time I won't be able to tell till spring.
I never imagined that down in Houston it would be so bad. So much for zones. Still I will be eager to see what comes back and go from there. Perhaps there are new plants I can try. Just trying to be positive even though I will miss some of my old frozen friends. I forgot about my Orleander, another one to worry about.
I have a few small barrel cacti and they still look ok but will have to wait until it warms up good to know for certain.
C
That's funny, they mentioned aloes on TV the other day. 18.1° this a.m. I think they moved us up north without us knowing what happened. Where's my southcentral Texas? 40's at night and 60's in the daytime, sun (well, we do have sun today, but it's probably that 'northern sun'. Not that I really need any sun, 3 skin cancers removed and counting. Maybe I should wear my hat today. One more night under 30° and then maybe we'll be freeze-free for a while. Maybe.
I almost bought some aloe that are supposed to be hardy to zone 8, glad I didn't waste my money now. I think I am going to find a way to have a temporary green house next winter. Just something that will provide a bit of protection for my potted plants and that I can take down in the early spring. Today I researched pond building, I am trying to look ahead to spring. In the past I only had plants that were hardy to the zone I lived in and pots usually had annuals that I replanted every year. After moving here, the temptation to grow some interesting plants is just to strong and so I have a lot of neat plants that are probably not entirely hardy here.
C
I had 11 degrees at my orchard and 14 degrees at the house Friday night. One of my cold tender trees looked okay until i touched it and the bark came off. All of it.
Well, I hope you don't lose very much. I guess we all know we're taking a chance with the tender plants we can't bring in, but it's so tempting! Winters like this just make me resolve to stop taking chances. Well, those of my plants who survived the 12.7° night outside are pretty much safe enough in this area!
I lived and gardened in Mi for a long long long time and cold weather like this was considered "spring" weather.. dont give up on your plants yet.. they might suprise you.. it might take longer for them to make a recovery and send out new shoots but many of them (designed for your zone) will have made it even though it diesnt look like it..when it warms up and things start sprouting give the damaged ones a bit more time before you trash them...
I had a light burlap cover over my edible kale, and it was still green today! That was hopeful.
I'm banking on the fact that the ground rarely, if ever, freezes here. Everything above ground is gone but the roots usually are fine. Just hope we don't have the opposite style of summer with 110 for regular temps.
Christi
Hard to assess what has made it. blkraven2 ,those are good reminders for patience.
The back lit grass was looking so nice amongst the others.
Yes, we want heat but not that much!
No Christi! Don't say that...the summer from the Hot Place is over for us. It must never happen again in our lifetimes!
The cacti will come back from the mush pile. Wait until just before early spring and cut off all the mushy stuff and find the live center. It will come back from this. My 12 foot tall Foxtail palm on the other hand..........not so much.
I invested in some grow bulbs to change out the shop lights in the shop this year. I couldn't be happier with how the plants we brought in are doing. Most are doing pretty well, and some like the Improved Mayer Lemon tree are going beyond all expectations! The blossoms smell devine too! However, my Satsuma Orange only about 18" made it fine so far outside in the ground.
We do need to look for the silver linning and get to start planting the seeds indoors to get out of the funk that this type of weather brings on. Not concentrate on what we lost as much as what made it through. There will be a lot of surprizes this spring when one that you thought was gone reappears. Pull out those spring and summer pictures and look at them and remember how many times you thought the freezes had gotten those plants. Don't tear them out just yet.
You are right, Sheila. We just harvested two of the biggest lemons I have ever seen from our Citrus that is living in the tool barn. I have been planting tropicals for 5 years. Discovered that they die above ground no matter what I do only to grow larger underground and come back larger and more beautiful than before. This year will definitely be the test. Everything in the little greenhouse is toasty and doing fine. Hibiscus in the garage is even putting out new growth and it is not heated. Half a dozen or so in the house and of course they are doing wonderful. Don't intend to "clean up" anything until the last frost in the spring. Have actually kind of enjoyed staying inside and doing some of the projects that have been procrastinating about.
Off to the sewing room again today. Working on a quilt my mother had in the frame when she passed away. That was March, 2004. About time I picked it up again.
Christi
Smart idea about the grow lights. We have fluorescent shop lights too. Might get Mike to change them when it warms up a bit.
The Cows Tongue cacti fell over, and this is the first time that I have seen that happen.
I am pretty sure that it will come back in the spring. It was getting very tall, so I will just cut it back to the ground. The barrel, horse crippler, prickly pear, etc. that are growing wild on the hilltop all are fine.
The ground in central texas froze, and yesterday when it began to thaw, we had a muddy yard.
Anyone who has newly planted shrubs, and the ground has frozen solid, needs to be sure that they are not heaving out of the ground. I planted many new native shrubs, and all look good so far.
I planted several new oleanders, and will lose the tops, but the young leaves at the ground look nice and green. I did pile flakes of spoiled hay around each one, to protect them.
I'm going out after work today to turn off the 2 heaters that I had going in the garage. They are keeping things warm, though drying out the leaves badly. My daylily bed looks pitiful. Fortunately we mulched them last summer and I watered them last Wed. before all this started. But they sure aren't evergreen now, lol.
Temps up to 51. At least we have the small window in the bathroom open. I suffocate without fresh air. Feels like a heat wave.
Of all places to leave a window open....I freeze even when I turn on the heater when showering! Burrrrr!
Sheila, did you not see our unique layout. The lou is in it's own water closet as they say on tv, the little window is there, not directly in the shower/tub area.
Oh yes, that's right. I was thinking the other and just how cold I am. I have to turn on the heater even in the summer.
So much for "Global Warming" but with one morning's temps at 13* I definitely agree with climate change. It was colder here then in Iceland. Only 2 broken pipes, over by the barn and chicken coop. I can't keep them covered one of the animals always takes the insulation off.
Lisa
Be glad it was only 13 degrees. Go back 5 or 6 decades and the temps got down below zero. This is a 20 year event and it doesnt really stack up as well as other major events in the past. That being said, I hope it doesnt happen for another 20 years.
I can't remember which year it was, but it has gone down to zero here in the metroplex, probably 35 years or so ago.
When we were expecting 13 one night they mentioned it was 17 years ago that that was set. I hate the cold weather, sorry snowbirds but you couldn't give me a house to live in up north. I will chance tornados any day vs. freezing temps.
Wow, I had no idea it got that cold, ever in TX. Thanks for the info.
Lisa
The record temp for Texas is -23F in 1933 in Seminole, Texas.