I guess you all know that South Florida froze this year. I lost a few things, but there are a couple of plants I'm going to cry if there is no chance of them ever coming back. They are my Costus barbatus and Heliconia rostrata. They were badly freeze damaged, so I cut them back. The Heliconia still has dead stuff sticking up from the ground, but the Costus seems to have disappeared entirely.
The ground didn't really freeze solid, and they are right under huge oaks, so leaves fall on them every year, and make a blanket. I am praying they come back. What are my chances?
I will know if they aren't coming back that the pine cone ginger and peacock ginger probably aren't either.
Will these come back from being frozen?
Be patient, I would think that almost all of those plants will come back now that warmer weather has returned. The heliconia may not flower this year, rostrata in Florida will usually flower on the stems that grew the previous year. The Costus barbatus in my back yard is still alive, and the winter up here in Gainesville was way colder than in North Port.
My Heliconia is just putting out its first leaves, so I think yours should be ok as well - keep us posted!
I'm really surprised that these plants in colder areas did better than mine. No sign of anything coming up yet on any but the butterfly ginger, which of course is totally cold hardy.
You have the option of digging it up (gently) and checking to see if the roots are white and firm (alive) or brown and slimy (dead).
Hi,
There are 2 helios in the yard. One has shoots up about 2' and the other clump is struggling with one 6" shoot. The 6" one is a large clump about almost 3' wide. Not looking good.
Hope yours comes back. Will miss mine.
Hap
Have seen no signs of life yet. Still hoping. All the tall trunks on my areca palm are dead.
This winter was sure a dusey!
Hap
We experienced the cold winter too. I'm finding surprises all over from plants coming back. The downside is that some of it is coming back from the base, so will take some time for them to return to the former glory.
My Heliconia surprisingly is sending up a new shoot. I've also had one Costa show itself, but haven't seen any life on the others yet. I think we will see more progress when we hit the summer time over night lows of 75F!
Judd, you're probably right. I see no signs of life, but it's still not warm enough I don't think. None of the gingers are showing yet. The deep shade under the oak tree gives them a cooler microclimate too.
Me, too, R.J. - my gingers are up 3' by now. It won't hurt to dig away the soil to check the roots of a plant, AS long as it may still be dormant.
exactly. I also noticed it's been a bit of a dry spring, so I started watering regularly which did spark a few to life. We are having a nice rainy day today and I'm sure that will kick start the rest.
Kay, I did that to my fox tail palm, I dug around the base of it and the roots are still very firm, so I've resisted the impulse to take it out several times hoping that a miracle might happen with it. The Majesty palms bit it, but they were much smaller..and by comparison the roots were brittle or mushy when I removed them.