The hard freezes the last couple of nights have taken a toll on my outdoor garden; plants that have withstood temperatures as low as the upper 20’s have frozen in this front’s icy grip of 18 degrees. So it’s time to cut away the things that can’t come back*.
How can you tell which leaves will revive as the weather warms? If it’s limp but still green there’s a strong possibility that it will spring back and grow again but limp and brown, black or gray has virtually no chance. However, if the dead parts are cut off some plants will put up new sprouts from the roots—this is where continuous watering benefits; the root ball is often protected from the cold by the soil and water keeps it from drying out i.e. freezing (freezing is essentially dehydration).
In case you’re thinking, “Oh the poor things!” realize that the sweet potato vines are usually gone with the first freeze; the various plants that froze have lived far beyond their normal range. Besides, I did take some cuttings that are still doing well. The Sweet Williams always hold up as they are biennials. Victoria Blue salvia also comes back (sometimes) for a second round but usually only after dying back but this time the leaves have bounced back. The plants that really amaze me though are the petunias! The ordinary white ones are still blooming and growing; I’ve never seen petunias survive this kind of weather! The orange Million Bells look straggly but they’re still blooming as well. Maybe I won’t give up on petunias after all (most of the ones I grew this year had some sort of plague and didn’t do well).
*Wearing garden gloves is a good idea when cutting frozen branches since they can be gooey.
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