Just yesterday this area was full of happy brug foliage, and calla lilies. Sheets didn't help with the temp in the low 20's. This is the worst this California sissy has seen since I came here in 1977.
Weather woes, everywhere you go
HG on the left, SuperNova on the right.
This Jade plant was happily in bloom yesterday ...
Anyone still think Miners Claim is pretty?
Things in the greenhouse are okay because we put a small heater in it. The plant on the opposite end of the greenhouse from the heater had slight damage but will live.
I'm so sorry for you!! This is surely a strange year.
Almost everyone is having unusual weather.
I hope your plants will come back for you!
Bonnie
we have it coming this week they haven't decided if we are going to bw in the mid 30's or 20's yet. BIL called and was telling he is in the 20's in Vegas and it snowed.
Oh no! Very sorry... what a sad sight.
Things are strange down here too: summer oddly cool except for occasional days of insanely hot.
Sooo sorry Mary ! I had the same thing happen to me a couple weeks ago. Happy to say that on my Hawaiian Double and also AxelRose new shoots have sprung out from the bottom of the plant. Now if Day Dreams will do the same thing, wooo hoo, I'd be a happy camper for sure.
Will say prayers for fast recovery ! God bless, Margo
Time will tell if any come back. At least all of my favorite doubles and favorite single pinks were in the greenhouse. Now I really wish that greenhouse was bigger. The buds are still holding on one I grew from your seed Liz. She's in the Greenhouse. Fingers crossed it doesn't get colder than our little greenhouse heater can handle.
I know Mary, same thing here too... I'm sorry for your losses. I didn't take pics, but all my brugs look the same as yours. Even the ones that had doubled freeze cloth on them and under the carport! Paid $5. bucks a piece for some worthless pieces of material. All my brugs in the ground are bleeding and mushy. The only 2 seed pods I had left are mush too.
Seems that even with the warnings, preparing for it is not something I could even comprehend since I've never experienced anything like this since I've been here either! (we moved here in 1964)
Oh nooo, not you too Joycee :( I am so sorry gf. We'll all band together and piece our gardens back together, one brug at a time. I lost a bunch too but fortunately I was blessed with some new growth on a couple of them. From that new growth new hope is bor n :) So don't lose hope....we still have all of our seeds, seedlings and each other. God bless, Margo
I woke up to a mess of plants theat looked like that this morning. Will brugs recover from this? 28 degrees in san diego last night.
steph
Yeah... we got hit a little tooo hard. Thankz Margo.. your so sweet. I know you lost a lot of good ones too.. I'm glad your getting growth already!
I doubt that the roots froze on the ones in the ground, so I imagine they will sprout back up... just wanted blooms in the spring, instead of FALL...LOL
I'm a little sad about those 2 seed pods too.. They were nothing to shout about, but they were my first crosses..
Oh well, For me, it was a learning experience.. Just never REALLY believed it could get that cold here!
Sorry to hear of your loss too Steph...
My condolences. Wow. Hopefully you will see signs of recovery soon.
Erick
All my brugs look exactly like yours in the pics. It was 28 for several hours last night -- a record for this area. All of my brugs are in the ground. Duchess had the least amount of damage because she is against the house on the west side, but it is supposed to be 29 again tonight so that should do them in even more. My Stemmadenia, Michelia champaca, and Tabernaemontana look the same also. I can only hope they will come back in the spring. This cold is just devastating to tropicals and their owners!
Mary, mine that were out under the patio cover look just like yours. I have quite a few subtropicals that look like they are going to be lost also. We have been around 22 for the last three or four nights and it will be that again tonight. So far everything in the greenhouse looks O.K. I am running a small heater in there at night also.
I'm so sorry, ya'll, out there in the cold.
I was born and raised in CA but left many years ago. It rarely frosted then, in the 50's, 60's, and 70's and never for that many nights in a row. My sister lives near the ocean, south of Los Angeles and has still had 4-6 hard frosts this fall/winter.
The brugs in the ground will come back fine; I'm in zone 7/GA., and they come back from the roots and are blooming by June here. Take heart!
Brenda B
I feel your pain. This is the worst cold weather we've had since 1990. I have a huge Mesquite that covers my yard. Even so...I brought the tender ones on to the covered patio. They froze too :(
Fish_knees, that is such a sad picture. I hope it will come back in the spring.
Thanks, Brenda B. That is comforting.
Here is a picture of my Equador Pink and Pink Beauty tree. That is my Michelia champaca on the right with the brown leaves.
Here are three more brugs out front:
Here's Maya:
Here's Duchess:
Here is my double white. 'Snowbank' and 'Maya' on the west side of the house got no damage at all. They were lower than the six-foot brick retaining wall so that must have protected them somehow.
Joli looks just terrible:
This is my Crepe Jasmine:
Here is my Stemmadenia that I paid $90 for last year from Top Tropicals. Ouch. I may dig this one up and see if I can save it.
Oh Clare...just so sad :(
I have several tropicals that I bought on line, of course they were the most expensive plants I've ever bought. Pretty sure they're goners. I have them inside under a plant light...minus ALL their leaves...sniff...sniffff
I feel your pain, Fish, and share it. Wishing your plants a speedy recovery.
Oh Gosh Clare.... That is soooo sad! I kinda thought you'd have a major loss, your yard is so awesome and you have so many cool plants.. what a shame. I'm so sorry to hear it.
Thanks, Joyce. I really appreciate that. I'm going to go dig up the Stemmadenia to see if I can save it. I am hoping that the brugs will come back on their own, perhaps after a little trim. Here is what the front yard used to look like!
I am so sorry for all of your losses. It's so depressing!
oh that would make me sick. so sorry .. hope all come back for you..
Good luck to you Clare.. You too Fish..
I see all my brugs that were in the ground are bleeding and the "skin" is like loose on the trunks.. Is that what happened to yours?
I am wondering about roots now... this morning I went to replace a tag that had fallen over and I couldn't get it in the ground! It was frozen solid... I couldn't even get one of those little wooden skewers in the ground.. that is toooooo weird for this area.. LOL
Oh Mary, Clare, and Fish_knees so sad!! If the bark still looks good though they will leaf out as soon as it warms up even just a bit. They are so resilient. Joyce sounds like yours really got fried. I got hit a few weeks ago so all my leaves were already gone. I have some trunk death now. Every day I look out and a bit more of my Tibouchinas are fried on the top. Soon no more green will be there.
We have one more night of the deep cold then it will get up into the 30s. I just can't remember it being so cold for so many days.
I sure hope you can save your Stemmadenia, Clare. I need to look that one up. You know on a few of mine I took 30 gallon black plastic pots and flipped them over on my smaller hibiscus. I haven't looked yet to see if it helped. But it was so fast and easy!
Thanks, Everyone, for your support and well-wishes. It is comforting to know we are all in the same boat.
Joyce, I just have drooping branch tips and weeping or shriveled dark leaves. I don't have the stem/bark damage that you have. It sounds like you got it worse than I did, but maybe yours will still come back from the base as Brenda and Kell said.
Kell, I remember how your plant looked a few weeks ago, and it looked like this too. I'm unsure whether I'm supposed to cut off all these damaged leaves and branches or just let them recover on their own. I'd have to use a ladder for 'Pink Beauty' and 'Duchess' because they are so tall. I did a little clean-up work on 'Joli' and cut her branches back a bit, and now she has no leaves at all. I can't remember whether the remaining shriveled leaves are supposed to stay on to help protect the remaining stems or not. I'll just leave the others because my back hurts too much to deal with it all. Nothing is getting covered tonight. I just don't have the strength. Kell, Stemmadenia is supposed to have a wonderful fragrance and came highly recommended to me so I finally bought one after putting it off for a few years. I dug mine up today and planted it in a container and gave it some Vitamin B-1. It's on the patio now, and I trimmed back its branches and removed the limp leaves. Hopefully, it will survive. That's a great idea about the pots. I wish I had done that now to my Stemmadenia and other shorter plants. I'll definitely do that in the future. Thanks for the tip:-) I hope your Tibouchinas recover, Kell. I've never seen prettier ones than the ones in your pictures. They make such a stunning backdrop for the brugs.
Oh Clare, you have strained your back? That is the trouble with these big plants and dragging them all over. I hope your Stemmadenia loves your care. You better cover it or bring it inside tonight for I think we have 1 more bad night.
I would not cut on your plants at all right now. The old stuff will help it too if you get another frost. I wait till spring and then cut them back to the first healthy node. They will all have started growing from the nodes before then. And in your higher zone, you probably do not have to wait till spring. But wait till the weather is going to stay nice for good. And the rains are over. It is the rains that can cause rot in the cuts I do believe. Wet, cold and cuts do not go well together.
I will forward to you an email I got from the SF Arboretum the other day on the care after such killing frosts.
Good luck to us!
It is torture to see them bleeding... it makes me cringe. My Poor babiez.. I feel so helpless!
I feel your pain ladies. Some, I fear are toast. Will keep my fingers crossed that some will make it. I had my most special plants in the greenhouse, but there were some seedlings that I hadn't seen bloom yet and now I probably won't. Before this record low a sheet was always enough to keep them going. I may have to get another greenhouse, but I know Harry won't build another one, and who can blame him. We probably won't get another freeze like this for a decade or two.
Still, our worries and heartaches are few compared to some areas of the country that are now getting the brunt of this system with ice storm and more. My prayers are with them.