I tried to get this information from another thread but I noticed it was for zone 8a. Here in zone 9a I have lots of potted plants and was wondering what and when to bring in for the winter. Plumeria, hoyas, meyer lemon, lime, aloe vera, figs, scented geranium, lipstick plant, epiphyllums, passiflora, donkey tail, euphorbia...Most are in smaller pots except the figs and lemon.
Zone 9a what potted plants to bring in.
Missouri City is near/in Houston?
Rjuddharrison would probably be able to give you the info you need.
How cold are you supposed to get tonight? http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/hdfForecast?query=missouri+city+tx&searchType=WEATHER
I don't think you will see a freeze tonight and at 40 degrees all should be o.k.. In the winter season, I tend to watch the night time temps a lot closer.
I believe the Meyer lemon, the lime, the figs will do all right outside. No Plumie or lipstick plant experience here but they are considered more tropical so will probably require protection on frosty nights as will the Aloe Vera. The Hoyas and the Epis are a bit more sturdy but do reduce watering when temps dip. If you didn't want to move them in, pull them up against a sheltered side of the house or under a porch roof and cover with sheets. Perhaps someone with more 9a experience will come along to offer assistance. Good luck!
Houston is expecting 34 degrees tonight. This is no joke.
I'd bring in the citrus and aloe vera at the very least.
How cold was it and what did you end up doing Fancyflea?
I'm north of Houston, I left out ferns, air plane plants, aloes. Brought in the Plummies, pencil cactus, Hoyas.
I am about 3 hours northeast of the Houston metro area and here we saw 32.0 for two hours this am from 6 till 8. I was up every two hours (for other reasons) and watched the temp slowly slide downward.
As I said earlier, I tend to watch the weather closely in winter. (In summer I only care about rain.) I have found a weather source that is as close to our temps as possible and put my faith in them.
Fancyflea, my suggestion is to find a trusted weather source and determine which of your plants will be more or less hardy. I know this is probably your first full winter here so you are in a learning curve but you will do fine!
I have some of the same plants as you: lipstick plant, aloe, plumerias, fig, geraniums. I don't bring in anything. We had a couple of hard freezes last year and one of my plumerias did loose about 4 inches off the tip of one branch, but other than that, they all made it fine. 1 plumeria is in ground and one potted. I also have agapanthas, angel wing begoinias, cyclamen, japanese maple, and several succulent mini gardens in large pots. I didn't loose anything last year. I have a black pearl pepper that is going on 3 years old, in ground, and it's gorgeous. It's close to 4 feet tall and covered in round peppers the size of a marble that are now turing red. They show up beautifully against the black leaves. If we have a hard freeze predicted, I may have to break my rule of "no pampering" and cover that one up. I'm in west side Houston, near beltway 8/Westheimer. Hope this is of some help. It's always a tough call for me on bringing them in or chancing it.
Crow
Great feedback from you all. thank you. I ended up bringing in the hoyas only but all plants survived just fine last night. I need to go out and get myself an outdoor thermometer. podster, your weather site predicts it will be in the teens and twenties at night this coming week..Is that right?? I checked the weather station site and they predict it will be in the 40's and 50's this week at night. crow, I'm impressed that you didn't loose your angel wing begonias. I have lots of them. When I arrived in May I put my begonias out into full shade and it was way too hot for them. I had to bring them back into the house.
No, it says 70s daytime and 50s at night for the next week in your area. I think you glanced at the celsius readings rather than the fahrenheit ~ don't scare me like that! LOL
Looks like we did not get a frost/freeze at all (I'm just inside beltway 8 near 249), because my pepper plants which I did not cover did not show any damage this morning.
P.S. Its going to dip down to about 40 tonight. We're definitely running the heater. ;)
We're in Baytown, SE of Houston. We put the tropicals in the two makeshift GH's (Plumerias, tropical Hibiscus, house plants, seedlings, misc. ) We put them in there the first night it went down to 40. They will stay there until March 17th. We open them up in the day so they can get fresh air.
I have aloe vera and it has always stayed outside.
I've had pretty good luck watching what the Chronicle says on the back page of the city/state section. We had 38 here in our yard - love my indoor/outdoor thermometer! - this morning and still no frost at all. The BOPs, Christmas Cacti, Angels Trumpets, et al are apparently enjoying this lovely weather more than I am. I am so cold natured that anything below 75 seems cool to me. The nice thing about all this is that the grass is not growing so that it has to be mowed. Our gardener came Saturday and he mowed and then blew the pine needles from the lawn into the flower beds for me. The place looks presentable now.
Ann
I like that set up you did texasgal. I have placed my plants in circular groupings so that I can just cover them with plastic when the temperature drops. I don't want to loose my citrus plants(nor any other plants for that matter, too much $$) and wouldn't you know it I purchased 2 more citrus yesterday. A Satsuma Mandarin and a navel orange. They had just gotten a new batch of them at Houston Garden Center down the road from me. I picked out two really beautifully shaped specimens. I'm thinking I might go back for a Eureka lemon and a Bearss Lime. (Not sure what a Bearss lime). Oh I just love the growing season in 9a.
I think you will find citrus to be more cold hardy which is why they are selling them now. After two hours at 32 degree, my Satsuma shows no damage.
I have a few large planters that I put a cover over..I got it from Lowe's & it's called a Planket...it comes in various sizes.
I would bring in the geraniums, only I've not had much success from them living through the winter.
I have lantana in planters & only one I have placed a frost cloth over..I got that from Calloways..they sell it in a bolt form that you can cut up & put over any size plant. maybe that will work for you.
I live in zone 7b just for your info.
I haven't done anything over here--the weather channel and weather underground ALWAYS exaggerates when the first freeze will be.
from florida, but do a lot of lurking here in texas. y'all are so friendly. i've always been told never to use plastic of any kind because it transmits the cold to the plant. i just use sheets and fuzzy lightweight travel blankets. does anyone have plastic problems here? my lipstick plant is inside any time the lows are under 50 and my adenium and plumies too. most everything else that needs protections is too big to move so they get covered.
We have enclosed our ":hut" and previously our patio canopy with plastic for about five years. None of the plastic actually touches any of our plants. We've had no problems. All of the plants have done well. The other day when I went out to open up the swing gh, you could feel the heat coming out. I use clothespins to hold the flaps back in the day time and even at night if it is not too cold.
So far everything has been fine. I did have to re-enforce the duct tape with gorilla tape on the swing GH, and it is holding really well.
When I did have plants out front that needed protected I covered them with cloth sheets. I found some good deals on nice heavy sheets for $4 ea for a double flat sheet, so I bought a few just to use for the plants. Those plants have since been moved to the back and are up against the brick plus protected by the fence on two sides. It won't be as windy there either. Hopefully they'll be OK.