Sunday, January 10, 2010

30 degrees and tropical gardens don’t mix.

I am getting tired of writing about cold weather, but what else is there to talk about around here. Last night was the coldest night so far; the temperatures dropped bellow the freezing point, and this morning the garden is showing the effects.

Banana trees are not meant for cold weather, if it’s below 50 it will affect the plant.

The starburst tree is dropping all the leaves, that’s a shame because it was getting ready to bloom next month.

My collection of coleuses are mostly gone, these plants are very sensitive to cold weather and are very difficult to bring back after a freeze.


I covered the vegetable garden and it worked, I had some damage with the basil and eggplants but the tomatoes are ok.
We have one more night of sub freezing temperatures and then back to normal winter weather by the middle of next week.

17 comments:

Lona said...

Oh, your poor garden.I hope it does not permanently hurt any of them and that they will spring back from this.

Jim Groble said...

I hope everything is saved. Best of luck.

jim

Darla said...

This weather and us natives don't mix well either. Hopefully your plants will recover. Our Banana trees always get killed in the winter...they return in Spring though...

Unknown said...

Gee Rusty, hopefully the garden bounces back next week.

ChrisC said...

I feel your pain.This weather has been incredible,to say the least.We lost our bananas,too.But so far,we have been lucky with everything else.Even with the sleet/rain we had here yesterday,in Tampa.
Come on Spring!

Susan said...

Gee whiz...below freezing in Miami...what a rare occurence. We had icicles this morning in the central part of the state. All our tropicals are devastated...the worst I've ever seen. Be glad you're further south!

Uniquely Ella said...

I know Rusty, just got back from vaction and I can't belive our weather. I know how you feel about the Star Burst, mine too, all gone.
I think the worst will be over tonight, lets see what happens. Wish you the best, I love your garden!

sanddune said...

We avoided the Hurricanes this season but caught the Artic freeze.South Florida gardens have to be tough to survive here.Hope it didn't stay freezing long enough to do much more than cosmetic damage.

Rose said...

Nice blog. I am fascinated by the picture of garden on your blog. It looks awesome. Wish If I could create a garden similar to this at home.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Dear Rusty .. take heart, the weather will eventually bounce back to normal temps .. but we here in the Great White North have months to go yet .. I know it is hard to take when you are not used to it , so I hope all of your plants just shrug it off and also bounce back to normal : )
Joy

El Jardin said...

Hi from Jupiter. Our starburst tree lost all of its leaves too. A banana tree also is in bad shape. The updated garden is less than a year old and we were crossing our fingers for no hurricanes. Who knew we needed to cross our toes to keep away the cold!

Meems said...

Rusty,
Stopped by to check on your damage. When it gets that cold in Miami we can know it is an Arctic blast we don't get often. It has been many years since I've seen it this cold... and for so many straight days. Lots of talk about the weather but it is really affecting us down here in bad ways.

My Starburst has dropped all its leaves, too... it really doesn't like the cold. Hope all is well and after tonight we should get back to normal.
Meems

Meredith said...

Oh, this is so sad. :( That little eggplant broke my heart. I hope nothing is sacrificed to this freakish cold front -- which I am so ready to see the back of. It's too cold!

Unknown said...

Not fair! We're used to the cold and so I'd gladly take on more so that your garden didn't have to be smacked down like this. I'm sorry that the weather has been so loony this winter. A lot of things will bounce back, as others have said.

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Eric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Sobe Gardener said...

Oh ! It was in deed cold.