Getting ready for winter: what do I do?

Hello fellow Texans,

This is my first year having a garden and plants etc. So to prepare for the freezing weather, that is IF we get any freezing weather, I need to know what to do about several of my plants.

Lantana; do I cut it down to about 5 inches and cover with mulch? That is what DH says to do.
Pentas: they are huge and gorgeous...do I cover them with a sheet if it gets down to freezing? Or do I treat them the same way as the Lantana?
Bougies; they are in pots, so I'll bring them in. But they have gotten real crazy with airplane like branches. When and how do I trim them down so they will get bushier?
Vitex; Will it be okay outside? I trimmed it down and then thought maybe I should not have done that?
Hydrangea; cover it if it freezes?
Beauty Berry; it looks pretty bad right now. All the purple berries are gone and most of the leaves are as well. Is there anything I should do to it?
Ixora; it is an evergreen, so will it be okay without coverage if it gets cold?

I think that is about it. All my other plants are in pots and I can bring in like my Coleuses and Hybiscus. My tomato plants still have a zillion baby green tomatoes on them. These are the same Delicious that I planted in the spring and they just keep cranking. But I figure that I better get those green maters off and let them ripen inside if it freezes?

Thanks everyone for the assistance. Sorry for the cluelessness, but alas, that is why I am newatplants. haha.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,
Welcome to Dave's! I live almost down the road from you, near La Grange. Since I live out in the country our temperatures are slightly cooler than yours. You have the benefit of all that warm cement and asphalt in a city.

You didn't mention whether all your plants are in the ground or in pots. Plants in pots have to be protected indoors somewhere. A garage will do. If the plants go dormant, you don't need to provide any extra light, otherwise you will have to provide them with a light source.

Ideally, you should prune in the spring after all danger of frost has passed. Prunning has a tendency to encourage new growth — something you don't want in the middle of winter. If you have to prune a plant to bring it indoors, that's OK. I had to do that last winter to winter my potted roses in my greenhouse. They were blooming by February. I'm not bragging. I wanted them to stay dormant so I would have to hastle with bugs and diseases. I was lucky last year. This year, I'm putting them in the shadehouse and will try to get my husband help me put some plastic over the top.

Beautyberries are native to this area. Don't prune until spring. They will sprout from the roots if they die down. In some areas of the ranch, they are protected by overhanging tree branches. They will lose all their leaves, but wn't die all the way to the ground.

Lantanas are also native (the wild variety). Mulching will help with the hybrid varieties. Here they die down to the ground. In spring, I prune the branches down to a few inches. I do this with the hybrid varieties also.

You can cover you pentas when freezing temperatures are forecast.

The growth your bouganvilla is exhibiting is typical for most bouganvillas. Prune down to managable size, but don't expect it to get real bushy. There are a number of varieties that do grow bushier. You would have to take a look at their growtn habits at a local nursery next spring. I was lead to believe by a nurseryman in Bastrop that bouganvillas wouldn't survive in the ground in central Texas. I have a neighbor down the road who has a huge one growing on the north side of her house without winter protection.

Vitex will be fine. Don't prune it next fall. Wait until spring.

My hydrangeas are protected by the eeves of the house. If yours are out in the open, you might want to cover them when frost advisories are broadcast. If they are under a tree, they should be all right. If there is a hard frost predicted and you don't want to take a chance on losing one, you might cover it for the night.

Some of the tomatoes might be too green to mature, but green tomatoes are edible.

I've been gardening in Texas for only 4-1/2 years so I can understand how you are feeling. I have found several very helpful books on Texas gardening:
Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening
Howard Garrett's Texas Trees
Sunset Magazine's National Garden Book

Next time you go to Barnes and Nobles or Borders, go to the garden book section. They usually have a good selection of Texas garden books. Because I've so far from a bookstore, except the few forays to the city, I've bought most of my books from Amazon.com.
Veronica

Veronica,

Thanks!! Everything is in the ground unless I otherwise specified. So this is great info! I, too, wanted to plant my bougies in the ground but was told by nurseries, DH and my step mom who lives in Fredericksberg that they will freeze and not come back. But I also have a neighbor about 10 houses down that has one growing over his back fence into the front and it is beautiful. I'd really like to put them in the ground and let 'em go nuts.

The hydrangea is in front bed under the eaves of the house as well. I have a sunroom and so that is where I had planned on overwintering all the potted plants...geraniums, bougies, coleus, hibiscus. For some reason however, when I put things in the sunroom, they get spider mites. It is very aggrivating! They have killed several plants in there so I'm a bit afraid of putting them all in there over the winter.

So my smaller maters that are green...just toss those? There are some that are as large as the palm of my hand, but Delicious get really big so that is very immature/small for that type. DH says they will not turn ripe but I saw at my parent's house that they took some green immature ones off and they are ripening on the counter. So who knows. DH thought it was going to freeze on Monday night, but it only got to 38 here. I'm sure it was at least 32 out by you. It was at my folk's in Fredericksburg. They always get colder.

Thanks again for all your help. I need to get back to the library and check out some books. I am not buying anymore b/c of lack of room for all my books. DH is building shelving for us so we can clear out the future baby's room. We are adopting from CHina as most of all the DG peeps already know. So been busy with the paperwork for months and now busy getting the room ready so my garden has suffered a bit from lack of attention. Not too bad though, I check on things every other day.

So do nothing to the pentas? Just cover if it gets to be below freezing? They are still blooming like crazy and are huge bushes now. They started out little bitty plants. They really like it here. And boy did I have tons of butterflies!

I really appreciate your help.
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Long time no type! :-)

Really mulching around those in-ground plants will help a lot. I had some pentas amd hydrangeas that I thought were lost, but when I pulled the mulch back in the Spring, there was new growth at the base. My understanding is that the longer they've been in the ground, the better they'll sping back (more established roots). They definitely grew back faster and bigger this year than what they ever last year (their first year in the ground).

I've been wondering if you had your baby yet. Do you have any idea of the time?

Good to "type" to you again, lol,
Mary

Hi Maggiemoo! Nice to hear from you.

I will mulch them. Do the Pentas need to be trimmed down first? I hate to do it b/c they are big and beautiful still.

I have a thread going on Parking lot about the adoption. Some bad news..we WERE suppose to go to China in July to get our baby, but the CCAA (China center for adoptions) is behind for various reasons and now it won't be until Dec next year or Jan 07. This info cause me to go into fits of course, but I will trust in the Lord and in His perfect timing.

How is your father? or was it your father-in-law?
Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I don't trim my plants back (pentas, salvias, etc) until we've gotten a good freeze under our belt. Then I just trim them back to about 6 to 8 inches. So you can enjoy those pentas while they are still looking good!

So sorry to hear about the adoption delay, I know that is frustrating for both of you. Even when you are placing your trust in the Lord it can still feel lonely and disappointing, I pray that He will hold you extra close.

It is my father-in-law who has been fighting cancer, thanks for asking. He's not doing too well. My mother and my Austin sister are funding a trip for my son and me to go and see him over the Christmas holiday.

Thanks Maggie, I will not trim them until after our good freeze...which may be tonight. It is suppose to get down to 30 tonight. I don't think y'all will get that cold since you are a bit further south.

The adoption delay is a major drag, but I figure this will give us more time to prepare to be parents. It took Moses 40 years in Midian in order for God to prepare him to deliver the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. So maybe in God's infinite wisdom, He knows I need more prep time? ;)

I am so sorry about your father-in-law! Where does he live? Well, I am sure it will be a huge blessing to him as well as you and your son to go visit him over Christmas. My dear friend Jamie is with her mom in Ft Worth right now staying with her while she endures chemo. Her mom, Jackie, is just eaten up with cancer. I do hope that the Lord heals her or takes her home quickly...the suffering is what I don't understand.

Michelle,

Can you believe we're supposed to get down to 26 tonight?! This will definitley end the bloom cycle for a few of those hangers-on out there.

My father-in-law lives in New Mexico, not far from Taos. We were afraid it would be Spring before we would have the money to go, but I'm not sure he'll last that long. I think, no I know that my family is aware of those fears. I'm so blessed that they wanted to make this trip happen. We're still praying for a miracle!

Michelle,
I'm sorry to hear about the adoption delay. I pray that you will hear from them sooner than that.

Mary, I'm sorry that your father-in-law hasn't been doing well. I lost my dear father-in-law about 1-1/2 years ago to colon cancer and agree with Michelle about not understanding the suffering. Intellectually, I understand why there is so much pain and why it takes so long to die, but, emotionally, it's difficult to accept. Toward the end, I was praying he would let go of life and find peace.

Newatplants, I've been wondering about your adoption too. It would be nice to have a baby for Christmas, but I think your patience will pay off for next Christmas.

Mary, it's good to know your family supports you like that. The fact that it's important to you makes it important to them.

Newatplants, about your bouganvilla. I heard that they wouldn't make through a winter here, but then I saw some that somebody had in their yard, so I planted mine. It's come back atleast 3 years in a row now. Mary saw it in November. It wasn't blooming anymore but it was still growing way above the eaves of the roof. It's on the east side of the house.
I guess I'm prejudice, but I think when you grow things organically, you have healthier dirt and that grows hardier plants. If I hadn't put all that stuff in;the bed, I don't know if it would survive a winter here. I would say take a chance in the spring and plant one of them. But be sure you have enough room. Some of them get to be quite large. Mine spreads out atleast 6 feet and would be bigger, but I have to cut it back to keep it out of the driveway. BTW they also need a lot less water in the ground than in a pot. But they will need something substantial to lean against as they get to be very heavy.


This message was edited Dec 5, 2005 8:15 PM

Well Maggiemoo, it got down to 27 here last night. So bye bye tomato plants. My pentas look a bit weary so I will need to cut them down as you told me to do.

I am so glad you will get to go see your father in law! I did not get to go see my grandmother before she went to the Lord. It still bugs me that I didn't. Of course, I will see her again in Heaven...but I sure miss her now. But God has been so good, my DH's grandmother is still alive and she is a sweetheart and loves me as if I were her own granddaughter.

betty, thanks, DH and I are hoping to have our baby sooner than what they are saying. We were so excited about going to get her in July...to think it will be next Dec or Jan 07 makes my heart ache.

Silver, I bet it got chilly out your way last night. Going to get even moreso tomorrow and Thursday. That is interesting info on the Bougie..I have been told they won't survive in the ground here thru the winters as well. I'd really like to try. They are so beautifulwhen they get big. Up against a fence might work you think?

My blue plumbego is in the ground and looks a bit unhappy about the freeze. Anything special I should do for them?

Thanks ladies. I will have a baby website soon. DH has been working on it but then got sidetracked with building shelving in the computer room so I can move all my stuff out of the baby room (books, projects, etc.).

Michelle

Michelle, I think it got down to 28 last night. Probably lower tonight. As far as where to plant your bougie, if it has protection from extreme cold, like near the house or a rock wall maybe, it would be worth it to try. Some varieties are hardier than others I've heard. I guess probably the older varieties are hardier. Ours is planted near a rose arbor for support. The uprights are probably 6 inches thick. It's not as heavy as a wisteria, but I sure wouldn't want it to wind up leaning on the house, so give it something strong to lean on. And yours might not get as big as this one either, but you don't know til you try it.

Silver, I have a Barbara Karst bougie. Is that an older kind? My sunroom is full of plants! haha. Looks like a plant explosion in there.

I don't know anything about the specific varieties. I have never noticed the variety name on any bougie. Maybe I just missed it. It would be very helpful to know because there has to be a difference in their hardiness and growth habit. I really would like to know which kind I have, but that info has been lost in oblivion.LOL After my Dad died, some friends and I were cleaning up the yard to get the house ready for sale. I started to dig this thing up that I thought was dead, and then noticed new shoots coming out. So I planted it in a pot at my house, not even really knowing what it was. I really was stunned when it turned out to be a bouganvillea. I kept it in a pot for several years and it didn't seem happy. So, remembering where it was when I found it, I decided to take a chance and put it in the ground. To say the least, the response was overwhelming. The first spring it was in the ground it grew atleast 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It would have been wider,but I had to cut it back so that it wouldn't shred people's clothes and skin as they walked between it and their car. I think there are some varieties that wouldn't get as big, but I don't know which ones.

I really don't do anything to prepare for winter... maybe add a bit of mulch in places to make sure my roots live, but since the ground rarely freezes here that isn't much of a problem. My bougies don't have trouble. Its a bit warmer here than there, but my uncle lives near Lufkin and has one in the ground, and though his dies back in the winter, it always has come back in the spring.

almcfarla, do you know which varieties you have?

We're expecting really cold weather. Should I do anything to protect my Texas Mountain Laurel? It's on a berm on the East side of my house and about 5 1/2 feet high.

Siggy

I don't have TX Mountain Laurel, but it's hardy to zone 7 (5 degrees F) So I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

It was 24 degrees here at 6:30 am! Wed pm/Thurs am it's supposed to go to 17!

Siggy, Maggiemoo's right I think. Texas Mountain Laurel is a native Texas tree and very tough. We don't protect ours at all and it's thoroughly happy.

Mary Lee

I don't know my varieties either Silver... I'm sorry. I too haven't ever noticed names on them, but I've talked to one our nursery people one time and they said they cross breed them a lot so...

BTW, do you have any peach trees??? I'm going to want to buy a few bushels this year!

Silverfluter I know it's native in your area but I'm futher north. But if it's safe to 5 f it should be okay. It sure is a slow grower.

almcfarla, welcome to Dg, and the TX Gardening forum! I don't remember if I saw any peach trees at Silver's house, but I'll bet she knows where to buy the best peaches!

Siggy, yes, they are very slow growers! How large is yours? How old is it?

It's about five feet tall. I don't know how old it is. I planted it last year. I thought I heard Neil Sperry mention something about wrapping his in the cold?

Almcfarla, no sorry, I don't have peach trees. We do know a good place to buy them though. I can't eat them, but DH does. Atleast I get to smell 'em!

Siggy, you're right about it being slow. Ours grows about 2 inches a year, if it's a good year. It's all the way up to 2 1/2 feet tall now!LOL

2 inches! Now I see why the larger ones command such a high price.

Texas Mountain Laurel are extremely hardy and an unbelieveable will to live. That last bit comes from having one of my little ones shredded 3 times and it's come back after each assault.

Michelle, the bouganvilla Barbara Karst is an old variety. It's a strong grower so it would be a good idea to give it plently of space.

Hi ladies,
yes, Canada has sent some cold stuff all the way down here. Our weather on weather.com:
"A light wintry mix this evening will taper to snow flurries overnight. Cold. Low 27F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precip 30%" I always giggle when it says it will snow. When I lived in Dallas (up by Siggy in Garland as most of you know), it seemed to get much colder and snow much more often than 220 miles south of big D here in Austin.

Siggy, you said your Mtn Laurel is on the East side of your house? That will give it some protection b/c I believe the front is coming from N-NW. But I think it is like my Beauty Berry...it may look sad during the winter, but it will be fine. My BB is looking really yukky b/c all the berries and leaves are about gone.

Crepe Myrtles are pretty hardy too right? I mean, they are on the side of all our freeways around here, so I am guessing I do not need to do anything to them? The Austin Tree Folks say you should never top off/cut off the top of a CM but my neighbor does it every fall. What do y'all do w/your CMs?

Betty, that is good news about the Barbara karst. I will find somewhere this spring to plant it outdoors. The doggone thing is full of the dark red "blooms" and seems pretty happy in the sunroom currently...it is so pretty. I would love for it to get really big in our backyard. I need to figure out where it is sturdy enough for it to climb up as it grows.

anything I should do for my blue plumbego in these temps?

my pentas got their hard freeze and look so bad! too bad,they were just full of flowers...I think it is one of my favorite flowering bushes. So many bees and butterflies! DH and I planted them right outside our sunroom...such a delight to see them with all their butterfly friends flying around.

Michelle

Michelle, just be sure to mulch those pentas to protect the roots from the cold. When I get around to cutting back my salvia bed, I plan to set a few pots of winter annuals on top of the mulch. The hope is that with the nice mulch blanket as a backdrop, the containers will make a nice change from just a brown bed.

Yesterday weather.com was predicting 17 for a low tonight, but now it says 31. Much better. I saw on the weather last night that the central part of TX, from the N down to about Austin, was going to be getting snow flurries. Yikes!

Stay warm!

Well phooey Maggie...it is so drizzly and cold out there (33 degrees) that getting out there to cut the pentas down and get them mulched is going to be difficult. I KNEW I should have done it yesterday but my entire day was booked solid. boohiss. Well, I guess if I lose them, I lose them. doggone it.

Wonder why y'all are colder down there? weather.com only has us at 27 for tonight. Yep, there is snow in Waco now and looks to be coming down this way. Dallas is getting it.

Siggy, you getting any snow where you are? Looks like you are on the weather.com map.

I guess I'll see how my in the ground plants are going to do. I need to get out there and cover some of them. But with it drizzling...won't it just get wet and weigh down the plants more?

We are getting some sleet. I have some Calla lillies in pots outside that I have covered. Should I bring them inside? It's expected to get down to 20 tonight.

Siggy

Hi Siggy,
I think you better bring them inside. They are pretty tender, I think. Are the pots too heavy to bring inside? If so, just cover them best you can. If not, bring 'em in. I need to go cover some plants now...
Michelle

I was trying to avoid dragging plants inside. I bought a small plastic greenhouse for that purpose. But it filled up much quicker than I had planned.

Siggy,
I would take the Calla Lillies inside. I believe they are hardy only to Zone 9. I lost most of the Calla Lillies I had planted in the ground last year and we had a relatively mild winter.

We had 19ºF weather Monday night. It was in the low 20s last night. I hate to think what the temperatures will be like tonight. We're colder than Austin mainly because we live out in the country and there aren't enough trees nearby to protect us from the cold wind.

Michelle, I've had to adopt your attitude about some of my plants. I planted some fig and persimmon trees in October before leaving to visit my two sons. I had hoped to mulch around them before we got a freeze. Instead, I've spent most of my free time re-arranging plants in my greenhouse to make room for my potted citrus trees. I'm going to be in big trouble next winter when all my baby Brugmansias grow up and need bigger pots. A few of the larger ones are blooming and perfuming the entire greenhouse right now. The figs will either live or die tonight. It was too cold, windy and wet to go out today to work in the garden.

Mary, I would have thought that your weather would be warmer. Do you live in a low lying area?
Veronica

Hi Veronica,

No, we aren;t in a low-lying area, this is just unusually cold weather for us! We normally get a couple of 32's or close to it in Dec, but nothing like this! Just a continuation of a wierd year I guess.

Too cold and wet to do anything here today, too - and it gets too dark too soon after I get home from work. My son, who has been borrowing my mower, came up to mow over the leaves I raked up, but it was raining by the time he got here.

Well, we'll see what survives...

all I've got to say is: what is weirdo year, weatherwise!

Are you ladies in a frozen tundra like us in Austin? We had drizzle all day yesterday and now it is 23 degrees and so eveyrthing is frozen. My car is frozen shut with ice. Looks funny. I think I may have lost my pentas. boohiss. Luckily they are not that expensive at the nurseries and they grow quickly. My blue plumego looks pretty bad too. We will see what survives.
Michelle

Just South of Dallas and no snow, just a touch of ice but really cold - 16! So the Purple Ft Grass is gone and the petnas will not see next year. Tx Mt Laurel is very hardy around here, along with most of the native plants of hill country. I try to get down there and bring back all that I can when ever I can! The good news is my spring bulbs are going to look great next year!

The sad thing is my Evergreen Sumac looks terrible and my little Bottlebush is black...

It's 24 here and dry as a bone. The blanket blew off of the agapanthas and geraniums, so I guess I'll be replacing them next year. I think everything else is OK. Except my daffodils that started coming up that I planted last spring. I've had these for a long time, but I dug them up and scattered them in different places last spring. I don't remember them coming up this early before. I hope the leaves don't freeze. My jonquils are not up.

Hazel, if you're reading this, your holly ferns are well protected. Their blanket is well anchored with rocks.

Looks like everything else is ok - I lost a few pond plants I know but I dont take anything out of the pond year to year and more comesback thenthey claim can come back so I dont get worried too much. A bitter cold day though 24 right now and they say this will be our high... yuck.

I can't believe it has stayed so cold for so long! That's really unsual (in addition to the fact that even when we do get this kind of weather, it's generally in Feb!)

I've been tossing pine straw and leaves on top of everything, we'll see what makes it through this. Some stuff seems to just be laughing at the cold. Can you believe there were two blooms on my crossvine and a bud on my moon vine?!