Once again, we have some extremely cold weather this week and your plants will need some special attention. The weather pattern seems to be somewhat following the weather pattern we had last year with the waves of extremely cold air. The plants do get bit some with the cold, but the good news is that, like last year, the pansies and violas will rebound with a little patience and some warmer weather!
Below are the reminders for covering your plants should you choose to do so. If you can only cover some of your plants, please concentrate on the accent plants as they are the most susceptible.
First and foremost….DO NOT WATER on days that extreme cold is predicted!!!!! The ice that forms around the roots can severely damage or kill the plants. You can help protect your plants by covering plants with pine straw, leaves, newspaper, towels, canvas dropcloth, or sheets, but do not use plastic as it can’t breathe and can burn the plants. Bring small pots inside your garage. Window boxes, hanging baskets, and pots are the most likely to be damaged, as their roots freeze and stay frozen for a longer time than flowers in the beds.
Some general information to know when assessing your flowers after the freeze:
- North facing flowers and those in shady areas will stay frozen longer and will have fewer flowers.
- Tender plants may get burned back, especially mustards, lettuces, cardoons, and kales. They most likely won’t die, but the plants may lose all of their foliage. Please allow them time to rebound. Pansy blooms may be lost temporarily. The blooms will return with warmer weather.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this information or about your plants. Hopefully, we are on the downhill side of winter……..
