What to do after the freeze
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: What to do after the freeze
- From: N* S* <n*@mindsovermatter.com>
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 15:59:42 -0800
While the folks in Northern California are reporting on their losses, us
Southern Californians are suffering as well. My tropical garden is
devastated. I've most certainly lost the salvia coahuilensis (spelling may
not be great, but you know what I mean) as well as the salvia involucrata.
Bananas, bauhinia, heliconia, holmskoldia, crotalaria, gingers, guava,
brugmansia and cardamom are all severly burned. And why does the banana
always fruit just before the worst freeze of the year?????
Anyway, I wonder what to do now. Shall I water as usual or shall I hold
off on the water? We have no rain predicted in the near future and I
usually cut back to once per week or less this time of year. If I water,
will that help with the recovery or will it do more harm?
What do you all recommend?
Other plants that are toasted (but outside the tropical garden) inlcude my
three year old Avocado tree, the lime tree, gossypium harknessii (San
Marcos hibiscus, related to cotton adn a beautiful low growing shrublet),
western redbud, one of my three bat-faced cupheas, and a monardia with
orange/red flowers I got as a cutting from a neighbor.
By the way, this is the time of year when microclimates are very
pronounced. We live at the bottom of a river valley, and as you go up the
street, there is a very slow but gradual slope upward. And as you walk up
the street, we had the worst damage, while those further and further
uphill had less and less damage. Many of our neighbors had no damage at
all.
Nan
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Nan Sterman
San Diego County California
Sunset zone 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11
