December Freeze

For those who have back issues of Pacific Horticulture, consult the spring 1992 issue. Ray Collett, director emeritus of the UCSC Arboretum, tallied temperatures across California for the terrible freeze of the previous winter. You can then compare how your area compares with our recent cold. I am hoping that Ray will do this study again and will ask him next week.
My garden is a mile from the ocean (Monterey Bay) in zone 8/9. I lost a great many plants in the 1991 cold - it was 14 for four days then - but many survived that I thought had bitten the dust. None of the hybrid fuchsias made it, but every one of the species fuchsias survived. Not a single one of my 450 roses was affected in any way. I had over 50 grevilleas then, and only one died - it had been planted several weeks before. The large lemon tree lost all its leaves in two days, but it came back after a year of malingering. It was not touched by the cold this time.It has been 22-24 for several days last week.
Because I have so many Australian natives that have survived both cold spells, I highly recommend grevilleas, correas, banksias and others for similar temperature zones.
HOWEVER - nearly all of my plants are in full shade from late November until early spring.
We learned at UCSC that plants in full sun suffered badly when the same plant which remained in shade all day survived.The sun raises the temperature on a frozen plant and literally explodes it. I am not sure if cover would help. Any experience to share on this topic?
Betsy Clebsch, author of the recent bestselling salvia book, gardens on the mts. along the coast between here and San Francisco. She said she had considerable damage this time. Her garden is fully exposed to wind and sun. I visited the garden of a friend in Carmel a few days ago, and she showed me what looked like serious damage. But one never can be sure. Just don't make any rash judgment - and don't dig up anything too soon. Alyogyne huelgii froze to the ground in 1991. A year later it rose from the dead.
Bill Grant
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