Frost! frost! frost!!

It`s soooo cold in Cali!! Anyone getting plant damage?

Sowmo,

The answer is a big YES.
Look at the palm & cycad and the cactus & succulent pages and you will see several discussions on the damage done, how to prevent it, and some ugly pics from around SoCal.

Lonny

I found an open 12x20' space...DH dosen't know it yet, but that's where my new greenhouse is going. I'd thought befoe that it would be beneficial, now I see that's it's a necessity. I'm not going to go through losing so much this year not knowing if this will ever happen here again.

And read the Freeze Warning thread in this forum too--that's where most of us have been crying over our lost plants.

Yes, lost alot of plants and ground covers. Hoping that some will bounce back. I had a beautiful impatiens that my mom had bought me about 5 years ago and forgot to bring it under cover...DEAD. This is awful and I hear its not over. And the wind last night was relentless.

Aww' I`m so sorry, I just read about all the damage done on your plants.

I have only been gardening for a year, and did have damage to a few plants, my nasturtiums are wiilted, I had been admireing them, just last week, they were spreading so happily.. I will try to cover the remaining plants


Keep warm, all

I has living in Southern California for long time... It been alway get frost killing plants. Then plants you like don't throw it away and it will grow back in spring time. As I know for that area.

Here I am in Joplin, MO which it got icy storm start late Friday until last nite. I have no power for 27 hrs no heater going. I was injury myself which I skip twice this morning. I am now okay but my right hip is hurting, also my both knees hurt too. It big mess icy trees weight down and snaps alot. My back yard got big mess which the electric company came by and cut the trees' branches off the power lines. This is my first time for power out in chilly weather.

As Gobal Warning is get cold this year as last year is hot. So I would say blame on Gobal Warning...

Oh Rusty, I hope your power comes back on. You've got to stay warm. Is there somewhere you can go if not? Emergency shelter? My cousins in Tennessee were without power for 11 days some years ago in the ice storms there and it was really tough. I'm hoping they get your power back on
Sherry

Yes I have power back on and I have friend nearby too... It help me not to get panic myself without power!

Glad to hear that Rusty

I've been trying to be philosophical about the losses and thinking that I have my trees so if I lost everything else I could still deal with it. Then I hear one of our garden knowledgeable weathermen say "the avocado trees on the ranch are history".....surely not, oh please,surely not. Our old property in front was mainly sub-tropicals and that's a problem.The woman who bought from us says the 40 year old pineapple guava is a goner, I'm not sure about the copa de oros and the giant birds, bay trees. I don't want to go look. It's the things that take years to grow that break my heart...salvias I can replace.
Ecrane 3,that Night jasmine I was bragging about? Looks pretty gone. I may have one left under shade cloth to start more cuttings from.I had just saved seeds from them, so if nothing else....
The real problem is that now we don't know what to expect from now on...the remainder of this year? Next year? Things have changed.

Oh gee, what a thought if this is to become a yearly event. Does anyone remember how long that freeze was back in 1998 or the big one in 1991. I had more damage then than now.

Oh Sherry, so sorry. Trees you have had so long are like old friends.
Rusty, I sure hope you stay warm. That is so scary you lost all your heat.

This changes everything......

We have a lot to think about regarding our future gardening styles, I'm afraid. I know I do.

Here what they did cut my good tree:

Sherry, I think the night blooming jasmine will come back, I've heard you just cut them back all the way in the spring and they'll come back from the roots. I sure hope that's true because mine is toast too!

Well, there are some surprises to be found. I used to grow a lot of scented geraniums, but now only mainly use a few that are my favorites.....nutmeg oak leaf, filbert and a couple more unknowns.I've always assumed them to be much more tender and they've been totally unfazed by this. Amongst the salvias, the microphyllas have stood up to the cold, and salvia muirii. Surprisingly salvia mole poblano and tequila made it through the first night. I'm going to go out and take a look around. It was either colder here last night or I just hadn't thrown enough wood into the woodstove, 'cause I slept in sweats and socks and 3 blankets and was still cold. I've grown the jazz from seed before so it's not so bad if I know I can replace that...they grow fast. The one that was flowering was moved into what I thought was a safe spot which turned out not to be so.

I'll be afraid to get my gas bill in a few weeks....my place was built in 1928 and has NO insulation, and I've had the heat on all night , every night for over a week now...

My fountain, which is only a small one, and at most 1 1/2 inches deep, has been frozen solid every morning since Friday...

So far, I've lost the typical cold sensitive things...impatiens, begonias, even a few calla lilies....
These things are a black slimey mess....my bougaunvillea is TOAST......it was the first to go.

The most bizarre thing though is the damage to the palm trees....especially the Kings and Queens....yet I have sweet peas blooming....go figure...I see Agapanthus all scorched and brown.

Besides the plants, I'm concerned about the many Monarch pupae under window sills, and wooden stairs...I hope the poor things don't freeze...

My big Cecile Brunner(sp?) rose is almost completely defoliated....it's has never gone dormant before...the "Iceberg" roses are PINK....what few are left.

Most succulents are toast as well....tall Ageratum...FRIED to a CRISP!!!! Calendulas...frozen stiff.

Conversely, the following are thriving: Pansies, violas, primulas, linaria, Iceland Poppies, lobelia, and armeria.

It is surprising when I look around..."Claudia Cardinale" rose has big fat buds opening, also"Souvenir de la Malmaison',"Golden Showers", "Cecile Brunner". The large Lion's Tail can apparently take the cold. Cistus are okay, Pride of Madeiras are okay..cistus skanbergii and centranthus sitting out in the open in 1 gallon pots are fine, also the penstemon, large tagetes lemonii are fine. I'm worried about my Monarchs also.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am NOT going to be doing this again next winter. I have enough to do without covering and uncovering plants every day!

WC...join the club !!! I feel the same way. I've been covering things at night for 3 weeks now...and it's getting O-L-D very quickly !!!

My dwarf Pride of Madeira is full of flowers...amazingly...
The Bergenias do look beautiful with their maroon leaves however...

My hybrid delphs are doing very well too....
My tall Bearded iris are another story though....I hope I don't lose them...or Weegy will kill me !!!

I was considering replacing a now gonezo bougainvillea with a Calliandra tweedii.....but it might freeze as well...what do you think?

As of today, we are chronologically 1/3 into winter.....if this keeps up, I'm going to abandon any thoughts of having my garden on the MaryLouHeardMemorial Tour.....I WOULD pick the one year we have our worst winter !!!!

We must sound like big ole babies compared to folks in other states who deal with this every year, huh?

JD, My Pride of Madeiras look great, coming into flower......the ones at my friends house about about a crow's flight mile away are history. She's out previewing gardens here for the Garden Club's spring tour and things are looking grim. Haven't grown calliandra,have no idea how itwould respond. I've already apologized to someone on another thread for whining about our freeze once she mentioned her orchids ending up at the bottom of her pool due to a hurricane. Guess we really shouldn't complain, just make changes so as not to get hit so hard again.
Sherry

I don't know about Calliandra tweedii, but there are other Calliandras that are hardy to zone 9 and I think some even to zone 8 so those might be a better bet. I think your bougies will come back though--they may look bad right now but they are tougher than you might think. I'm pretty sure I've seen some posts from people in zone 9a and even maybe 8b who grow them and they may lose their leaves in the cold but they come back in the spring.

Liz...truth be told, I didn't like the bougainvillea that much anyway !!! It was way too much constant pruning and the mess was everywhere....not only that, but it was mislabeled when I got it...it was supposed to be the orange one...and it turned out to be red....not the nice red either...the washed out looking one.

Calliandra inequillatera(sp?) IS tough as nails...my sister in Simi Valley has one in full bloom right now on the NORTH side of the house...and it's doing just fine...but I want the "tweedii"...for the leaf shape and texture as well as the bright red flower...plus, it stays "flatter" better than C. ineq.

Bougies are one of my favorites--if it was the nice red one I'd offer to take it off your hands! But I don't like the washed out red either. I agree they can be a pain with the pruning, but they bloom nonstop in the warmer months and give everything such a tropical feeling, I just have to have them anyway! I have a bunch of different Calliandra's too (can't remember which ones off the top of my head), unfortunately they were all very small plants when I planted them this fall and they're all rather leafless and dead looking right now--I'm hoping at least a few of them come back!