What Did 20 Degrees Do To My Plants!?

 

What Did That Sudden Freeze Do to Your Plants?

 

After a sudden blast of really cold weather, it’s normal to look around the landscape and wonder, “Did my plants survive?” The answer depends on the plant, how cold it got, how long temperatures remained below freezing, and how well established the plant was.

Hardy trees, shrubs, and perennials can often recover from freeze damage, but don’t assume a plant is fine—or dead—based only on what you see immediately after the freeze. Tropical plants, tender perennials, and warm-season annuals are much more vulnerable and may suffer significant or fatal damage during a hard freeze.

 
 

Why Does Everything Look So Bad?

 

When we’ve had an extended period of warm weather before a sudden freeze, plants may still have tender new growth that hasn’t fully hardened off. That new growth is especially susceptible to cold damage.

Over the following days, you may notice blackened or brown leaves, wilted foliage, damaged flowers, or soft stems. Ornamental grasses and dormant perennials may also turn from green to shades of tan or straw after freezing temperatures.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the entire plant is dead. The leaves and tender stems may have been damaged while the roots and older woody growth remain alive.

 
 

Don’t Be Too Quick With the Pruners

 

After a significant freeze, it’s usually best to give your plants some time before doing major pruning. Damaged foliage can look terrible, but removing it immediately isn’t always necessary.

Wait until you can better determine where healthy living tissue ends and freeze-damaged growth begins. For many plants, this becomes much easier as temperatures warm and new growth starts appearing.

Broken, hazardous, or obviously damaged branches can be addressed as needed, but don’t automatically cut an entire shrub or perennial to the ground just because its foliage was burned by the cold.

 
 

What About Perennials?

 

A hard freeze may send many perennials into dormancy for the winter. The foliage above ground may die back while the crown and roots remain alive below the soil.

Whether you should cut the dead growth back immediately or leave it through winter depends on the particular perennial. Some plants benefit from waiting until late winter or early spring for cleanup.

 
 

Annuals & Tropical Plants

 

Warm-season annuals and tropical plants generally won’t handle freezing temperatures as well as hardy landscape plants. Some may be killed completely by a hard freeze, while others may die back above ground and recover from protected roots if the particular plant is sufficiently cold hardy.

Container-grown tropicals can be especially vulnerable because their roots have less insulation from cold temperatures than plants growing in the ground.

 
 

Cool-Season Color

 

Cool-season annuals such as pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, and Dusty Miller are generally much more tolerant of cold weather than warm-season annuals.

However, even cold-tolerant plants can suffer damage during particularly severe or prolonged freezes. You may lose some flowers or see damaged foliage, but healthy plants can often recover and begin growing and blooming again once conditions improve.

 
 

Give Your Plants Time

 

The biggest thing to remember after a freeze is don’t panic and don’t declare a plant dead too quickly! Freeze damage can take several days to become fully visible, and some plants won’t show you whether they’ve survived until new growth begins later in the season.

If you have questions about a specific plant after a freeze, email us at email@thgc.net, text us at 903-339-0922, or call us at the nursery. We’re happy to help!