my sea grapes turned brown with the cold...i did cover them...will they come back...should i cut them
sea grapes
Only time will tell whether they'll come back or not so you'll have to wait and see. I wouldn't cut them until spring, it's best to leave frost-damaged plants alone. The frost-damaged foliage will provide some protection in any future cold snaps for parts of the plant that might not have been damaged as badly, and also if it is still alive trimming could stimulate new growth which will be even more susceptible to cold damage. Plus it's hard to tell which parts are really dead and which parts the cold just killed the leaves until the weather warms up and it starts putting out new growth.
corrigandee: I agree with ecrane3. You should not cut them back until @ the second week of March to be certain all cold weather is over and done with here in Central Florida. I live over on the coast in Daytona Beach and although I don't have Coccoloba ("Sea Grape") here in my yard, I've seen a few around. If you prune them now, we are sure to have more cold and possibly freezes (January and February are our usual coldest months) and plants pruning now will definitely stimulate new growth, which could damage the plant even more. As much as we Floridians hate seeing our normally year round green landscape look ugly and brown, I'd leave it alone for another couple of months before any pruning and during cold snaps cover the plant with an old blanket to give protection from frost.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/cocc_uvi.cfm
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1869/
thank you both for the advice i will follow...but yes it is hard to sit tight