Brrrrr it's cold.......or not???

All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!

Is it winter or not??? Here in South East Texas our weather will be cold one minute and if you blink....it's warm again!   Yes! Just two days ago we were close to 34 degrees and Today's high is 78. So what are our plants thinking.....Do I bloom or drop my leaves??? Unfortunately all we can do is go with it and try to keep them healthy and protected. When the temps are in the upper 60's to high 70's, our plant's are happy and lovin' it! But if it's 75 degrees today and tonight it will be in the 40's, our plant's are a little confused and it's possible to get some frost damage on the leaves and new growth. Since the plant's are getting new growth due to the warmer temps...you need to be diligent about protection. If the temps are going to dip more than 20 degrees in a day, you need to be concerned about certain plants. By now a lot of your annuals and perennials have already started to go to seed or die back. You can prune them back or collect seeds for next year. If its an annual and its time is up...pull it up and throw it in the compost pile! So how do you protect your plants??? Mulch..... any kind is good. Don't overdo it though, too much mulch is bad too. Use pine needles( for acid-loving plants), cedar, pine bark, redwood, hardwood...etc. Water your plants well before a freeze and most importantly..cover them up! Now when you cover them up, you want to use freeze blankets or sheets. You want to use something lightweight. Secure it well. Don't use plastic unless you absolutely have to. If you use plastic.....remove it before the sun can cause too much condensation. The condensation  can burn your plants. Here in Zone 9/10 we plant a lot of Tropical plants in our landscaping. We use palm trees, hibiscus and ixora's. oleanders and Ti plants. We even plant ficus trees outdoors. These are the plants that we need to protect. Also other plants like gardenias, mandevillas, ginger, banana trees, bougainvilleas. There are many others....Like citrus and avocados. If you have any questions about specific plants....leave me a comment below! Happy Gardening!