Its a little bit funny to compare your cold conditions back home. Here all plants are covered and protected by 1 meter snow. But soon we will enjoy spring and alpin skiing. Hope your plants are OK!
Great lesson! Compared to the high desert, what you do now is what I did in late Nov. 14F low today, <10 lows / <32 highs next 5 days, so glad I have no marginal plants.
Question – your zone 9a implies many winters average out to a low of 20-25F; your forecast lows sound like your average winter cold. But is this severe "quite cold" for you since it's cumulative, with more than 1 night of 20's? Or you no longer get as cold as your zone once said? I'm just curious what that means in Phx!
Thank you so much for your comment. You are right in stating that the reason this cold snap will be cummulative….over 5 nights in the 20's. It has been interesting noting the progressive frost damage over the past few days. The first day – not too much. But now we are on day 3 and plants are looking pretty crispy and dark brown/black.
I know my lantana will come back in the spring because it always does. I'm particulary concerned about my large hibiscus (potted) which I baby constantly through the summer, misting and watering all the time. I covered it every night during the recent frost and it only has a few branches where the leaves are brown and crispy. I was going to cut them off this weekend but after reading what you wrote, I will wait. The whole plant looks a little wilty but I'm hoping it will perk up with the warmer temps now.
I'm so glad you wrote about this in detail!!!
Thanks for sharing this. I'm not thrilled about what the frost does, but I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'm definitely not ready for spring to get here, because after that, comes summer!!!
If you need extra protection, lay a string or strings of outdoor mini Christmas lights (not LED lights, the ones that get hot) on the ground around the plants, then cover them. It’s often just enough heat to keep them happy.