palms

Dead or dormant? How to tell if your plants survived Texas’ winter blast

Last week Central Texans watched as snow and ice blanketed landscapes in a series of storms rivaling Northern blizzards.

As power is restored, water becomes safe to drink and the process of repairing damage has begun, it’s time for garden assessment.

It’s ugly out there. Finally able to walk my dogs, I found downed tree limbs or cut brush at almost every house in our neighborhood. Prized agaves, sago palms and other specimen plants turned to rotting mush. Tough-as-nails rosemary bushes sport black branches. This unprecedented freeze damage has left even seasoned gardeners wondering what will return and what’s gone for good? Is it dead or is it dormant?

We normally only have a few weeks left until the danger of frost has passed. According to the USDA Hardiness Zone map for the Austin area, our average last frost occurs between March 1 and March 31. It’s usually the middle of March. But it hasn’t been a typical winter.

Cacti that are mushy and seeping probably won't make it to summer after the winter snow and ice.

Cacti that are mushy and seeping probably won’t make it to summer after the winter snow and ice.

The most important thing right now is to wait. If you prune a dormant plant right now and warm weather stimulates growth, the new leaves will be highly susceptible if we have another freeze, and it will then die. If you wait until the danger of frost has passed, you will give your dormant plants a fighting chance.

The center of this sago palm should be checked. If it is still hard, it should make it.

The center of this sago palm should be checked. If it is still hard, it should make it.

Palm trees

Native Sabal minor palm trees tolerate freezes in most years. Most other palms won’t make it. If the center bud is firm, the plant might survive. Cut off drooping, dead or damaged leaves. If your palm has a rotting crown, or you can easily pull fronds out of the trunk, it won’t come back. If you’re unsure, however, give it plenty of time to recuperate.

Cycads – Sago palms

Many Austin gardeners enjoy the drama of large Sago palms in their landscapes. Not actually palms, Sagos are cycads. They generally tolerate temperatures down to 15 degrees. Frost-damaged leaves turn yellow or brown and should be removed. If the trunk and leaf crown are hard wood, it should recover. If the trunk turns soft, your sago might be damaged beyond recovery. After the freeze of 2010, Sagos across town were devastated but most had no crown damage. By summer, new leaves emerged and the plants thrived.

This rosemary has survived 20-plus years, but not the winter storm of 2021. It probably won't come back.

This rosemary has survived 20-plus years, but not the winter storm of 2021. It probably won’t come back.

Shrubs and woody perennials

Rosemary normally does fine in our mild winters, even handling a few light frosts for short periods. Days on end of single-digit weather and wet snow spelled the end of the road for even the most established plants. You can remove them at any time — they won’t be coming back.

Salvias range from cold hardy to tender. Some Salvia Greggiis even survive to 0 degrees. If you don’t know your exact variety, the best approach is to cut them back to green wood. Once you see green inside the cut, stop. If you don’t see any green, simply cut it back to the ground and be very patient. It may come back from the roots, given a few months.

Salvia can be cut down to see if there is green in the branches.

Salvia can be cut down to see if there is green in the branches.

Take the same approach with shrubs and other woody perennials that appear dead like pittosporum, loropetalum, lantana and boxwood.

Succulents

We know some plants simply aren’t cold hardy. Many agaves, cacti and other succulents won’t survive after the prolonged deep freeze and snow. A handful of species might have weathered the storm, and you’ll know if there is hope if you have a firm center inside the collapsed outer leaves.

Sotols, Yuccas and Nolinas are usually Texas tough. Many in my garden and elsewhere are looking great after the winter assault. Whale’s tongue and havardiana agaves are reported to have survived in some landscapes as well.

The plants might look bad right now, but some of them might surprise us by summer

The plants might look bad right now, but some of them might surprise us by summer.

Cacti

Crumbled mounds of mush, prickly pear cacti simply disintegrated all over town. There might be hope for some of them, however, depending on the species. Some varieties of Optunia are hardy to 15, 10 or 0 degrees.

Agave might look very bad right now, but some of them might survive.

Agave might look very bad right now, but some of them might survive.

Cacti are very sensitive to the timing of pruning. While their dying pads and stems look terrible, it is important to wait until it is really warm to prune them. Then dust the big cuts with sulfur to help dry out the cuts. Jointed cacti regenerate really well, but the columnar ones should be cut back to the base or you will just end up with a permanent stump. If the plant is oozing, you can remove it now.

Our plants took an incredible hit. Those that survive will need much longer to recover than milder years.

Once, after a terrible freeze, I advised my clients repeatedly to wait longer before pulling out plants. I ignored my own advice and ripped out a very small Anacacho Orchid Tree only to find the tiniest green growth at the base of the plant that was hidden by mulch. So, wait, wait, and wait some more.

Inspiration on a napkin turns ideas into reality in the new garden

I woke up at 5:15 Saturday morning, as excited to wake up and start the day as if it were Christmas morning.  Saturday was planting day.  I could hardly control myself as I tried to go back to sleep for at least a little longer.

When we moved last summer, I knew I would have a blank landscape canvas with which to work.  Now on a large, shaded and very hilly corner lot, the conditions in this garden are dramatically different than our previous garden.

I’m reminded of the adage, “be careful what you wish for…” and smile when I think of my complaints that the other landscape was flat and boring.  There’s nothing flat here!  In fact, the only thing here is ivy.  Lots and lots of ivy.  I’ve found Jasmine, English ivy, trumpet vine and Virginia creeper, all intermingled in an incestuous mess, threatening to eat the trees and the house and everything else in its path.

Over the last few months, I’ve tried to focus on the area that runs along the lower side of the property.

One of our first projects when we moved in was intensive pruning of the wonderful, yet long-neglected heritage trees.  We removed a few dead ones, and opened up the canopy of trees along that side of the property.  Because of the overgrown trees, all that remained in the total shade was dead grass, soil and exposed tree roots.  Now, the afternoon sun shines in this area, and I decided that it might be my best bet at creating a bed friendly to sun-loving plants.

I’ve scribbled on several napkins and I’ve had a few snippets of ideas about possible plant combinations.  Luckily, I came to my senses and decided to take the time to assess the space, allow my vision to evolve, and focus on some of my favorite plants.  The sketch of plants grew as I decided to intersect the long space with a dry creek, boulders and a large ceramic pot as the focal point.

Last week, I put the plan into motion as I drew out the creek outline with construction paint and got the crew digging and delivering rock.

Over the week, I finalized my plant choices and placed my order.  Saturday was the day.

I lovingly placed every plant and every boulder, turning and adjusting and moving an inch to the left and then a half inch to the right and then another half inch back to the left!

At the top of the hill, I’ll add a very large ceramic pot, filled  with a focal point plant and trailing potato vines or maybe silver pony foot.  It will be nestled in the middle of these boulders at the headwaters of the creek.

Bordering the sidewalk entrance, a few dianella, a purple trailing lantana, a red salvia Greggii, blackfoot daisies and damianita surround a regal purple Amistad salvia.  She’ll be the star of the show in short order with her almost foot-long plumes.

To create year-round interest, catmint is intermingled with the elegant and strappy leaves of Agapathus.  I like the textural contrast between the delicate, gray-green catmint and the lime-y foliage of the agapanthus.

In mild winters like this one, catmint was evergreen in my previous garden.

It will be interesting to see how plants fare in this new garden.

At the other end of the bed and the creek, the shining star will be a deep magenta Maggie rose (which I haven’t found yet).  She’ll be flanked by Dianella, a Mediterranean fan palm, trailing white lantana,  purple skullcap and a Weberi agave.  Just past the Weberi, another Dianella keeps an Indigo spires salvia company along with an artichoke and a scattering of sculptural foxtail ferns.

I didn’t realize how much I missed my other garden until I started to create a new one.  It’s filled a void and I’m excited to be moving forward.

I have lots of other ideas swirling around in my head.  And now that this bed is spiffy, neighboring areas definitely look shabby in comparison.

Now I’m dreaming about new stucco bed-bordering walls (to replace railroad ties), driveway flanking beds, and a possible new entrance from the street.

I’ve stocked up on napkins, there is plenty for me to do.  I’ll keep you posted!

Four acres of gorgeous gardens under glass at the Longwood Gardens Conservatory

Last week, my friend Pam, who blogs at Digging, and I embarked on a garden adventure unrivaled in my garden travels. Nestled in the Brandywine Valley region of Pennsylvania, we toured three public gardens, Winterthur, Longwood and Chanticleer.

I took thousands of pictures (in part because the hot summer sun kept me adjusting my light settings). I’m sure I collected enough photos to blog about for several months!

As a lover and collector of tropical and exotic plants, the Longwood Conservatory is high on my list of the gardens within the gardens of our trip. It includes 20 different gardens (yes, all inside this giant conservatory), and more than 5,500 types of plants. It was spectacular. While it included all the typical plants you’d find in most conservatories, there was so much more — an amazing array of plant combinations, beautiful design, and attention to detail at every step. I can’t even fit all of it into one post, but I’ve decided to just jump in and cover part of it as my first post of the trip.

The Conservatory was built in 1919 by Pierre S. du Pont, and was designed to be an indoor eden. The collection of conservatory buildings covers 4.5 acres. (The entire garden covers 1,077 acres.) Yes, 4.5 INSIDE acres of stunning gardens, including the Fern Floor and Alcoves, seen here, the Patio of Oranges, Waterlily Display, Silver Garden, Orchid House, Mediterranean Garden, Bonsai Display, Palm Garden, Desert House, Cascade Garden, Banana House, Camellia House, Green Wall, Indoor Children’s Garden (so amazing that this will get its own post soon!), Rose House, Tropical Terrace, East Fruit House, Garden Path, Peirce-du Pont House and the Exhibition Hall.

The grand entrance, pictured above, provides a preview of this massive sest of structures. Beautiful and unusual bromeliads are given a place of honor in this section of the garden.

Many of the water features were surrounded by bromeliads, as well.

I have a number of bromeliads in my house and in the cabana in pots, but the volume and diversity of these was astounding. Clearly I have a way to go in the collecting department!

And then there were the ferns. I was taken by the Mexican Tree Ferns, delicate and ephemeral, yet strong and sculptural, all at the same time.

And then there were these stunning Staghorn-like ferns.

Of course, no prehistoric journey would be the same without cycads.

This male cycad was sporting a new cone.

I love this grey species. It’s a shame that the light prevents me from reading the tag that I photographed — I’d like to find out if I can grow this one in my Zone 8b-sometimes 9 garden.

This gigantic Sago palm (though not a palm at all) dwarfs the sizeable Sansevieria below it.

I believe that these elephant ears are Colocasia amazonica – which means they are sure living up to their name here under the black bamboo.

I can’t name this one, but I love the black stems which mirror the black bamboo as well.

Great color combinations under this bamboo.

And, who can resist the appeal of this black bamboo? It’s so striking and exotic.

With 4.5 acres of conservatory gardens to cover, this will have to be it for your first peek. Thousands more photos and lots of blog posts to come, about the conservatory and Longwood’s other 1,000+ acres of outside gardens!

Beautiful Green Barcelona

Barcelona is a bustling metropolis. Full of beautiful and historical landmarks and still a sleek, urban landscape with amazing food and wonderful people.

Churches and cathedrals that date back to 11oo, Roman ruins so intact that historians can identify rooms designed for cooking in large vats, dying clothes and bathing — all complete with water channels.

Gaudi’s multiple world-renown art and architecture, including La Sagrada Familia, which I will post about next.

Las Ramblas, the most famous street in Barcelona, is a tree lined paradise of fresh flowers, love birds for sale and the home to the Boqueria market that will make your head spin with fresh food and wine and cava and tastings that make you never want to leave.

The market was filled with fresh fruit of all kinds.

Seafood played a prominent role in the market.
Peppers and spices and garlic galore to season great Spanish food.

And, most importantly, the famed Serrano ham and other charcuterie. I could eat the Serrano ham every single meal, and we almost did! It’s at the top of the list of Tapas in every cafe (and there is one on every corner and 5 in between corner to corner on every block).
We ate dinner one night at a fabulous and trendy restaurant that was an anchor to another fresh market and I fell in love with this green wall. Because it was dark – dinner is LATE in Barcelona – and I didn’t want to disturb the folks sitting next to it – my camera was lacking. But each row features fresh herbs used in the restaurant.
Like Italy, cypress trees are everywhere in Spain.
As were these beautiful trees with vivid yellow blooms. I never did discover the name of the tree, but they were such a breath of fresh air in the heart of the city.


Many balconies also sported beautiful plants and planter boxes.
Cypress trees weren’t the only stars of the show — they had to compete with beautiful palms all over Barcelona. Its beaches bordered the beautiful Mediterranean. Cloudy and rainy weather couldn’t keep us from the beach though.

We did spend a few hours in the sand – button sweaters and all.

Our daughter was oblivious to the wind and cold as she went in up to her knees, searching for shells and rocks and building a sand castle.

And, the port was overflowing with beautiful sailboats, yachts and three cruise ships.

Las Ramblas – which seems to go on forever — is also a tree lined oasis.
More cypress…
Another unidentified and beautiful tree with exotic bark.

It was a fascinating, exciting and educational adventure. And boy, did we eat well and drink fabulous coffee. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Next, how Gaudi’s love of nature turns into art. A UNESCO World Heritage site, La Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia is the most phenomenal architecture I’ve ever seen throughout Europe, Greece, Turkey and the USA.

Timberrrrrrrr…

This photo was taken before we bought this house. See those two short palms on the left side of the cabana — they are just over half as tall as those posts. In August, that will have been 7 years ago. There were also two other palms on the other side of the pool – all 4 of them almost the same size when we moved in.

This was shot about 2 years ago – they have crested the cabana roof on the right of the photo.

And this is from Tuesday evening. They tower above the roof. They are too tall for my husband to prune any more, and they are completely out of scale with the rest of the landscape and property. Personally, I would not have planted trees that grow that tall. But, I didn’t plant them, and while I did enjoy them for the last 7 years, I decided it was time for them to go.
And so they did!

I was shocked at how easily they came down. It took two men just one hour to fell all 4 of those huge palms. First they roped them, using a plastic-coated wire rope with what looked like a giant fishing sinker on the end. After lassoing the tree, one guy pulled and one guy sawed.

Then, “Timeberrrrrr…”


They cut up the biggest pieces and left me with dead palm parts all over my yard.

The next day, a different crew of 2 guys who work for my landscape design installation foreman came to cut up more, load those massive pieces into a trailer and to cut the stumps down flush with the ground.
I never anticipated how bare it would look without the palms. Because they towered so high, I didn’t think of them as being that prominent. But they were!
The roots fascinated me. They were huge. The biggest base diameter was about 2.5 feet across.
Today they came back with the chainsaws and picks and shovels and cut and dug and whacked away at those fibrous and very short roots on the outside edges of the trunk. It really is amazing that those tall trees stand with such a small shallow root. And we have lots of strong winds up here on this hill.
They left some big holes, some pieces of wall that need remortaring and 1 broken pipe.
Not bad, when the original plan included a bobcat destroying the walls, my grass and sprinklers in multiple places. Didn’t need the bobcat, and the roots were much easier than any of us anticipated.

(Easy for me to say, right, since I wasn’t the one out there sweating like crazy doing about the hardest work I can imagine for several days.)

After the wall is fixed and the sprinkler repaired by the end of next week, one new Pindo palm will grace the back left corner of the pool bed. The oak tree shaded one of the previous palms and as a result, it never grew evenly with its mate. (Drove me crazy) So I won’t be planting two sister palms, just one further in the corner and then something different will go on the other end to anchor that bed.

I’m not sure what I will do behind the cabana — the pindos are too wide with their arching fronds and would be in the way of the shades between those posts.

So, now I have one hole, and one completely empty new bed! Those two cabana palms took up most of that bed and I let a Datura take over the rest, never bothering to put anything else in there.

But now…

By |2016-04-14T02:42:32-05:00April 29th, 2010|Blog, palms, pindo palm, pool, Sharing Nature's Garden, trees|0 Comments
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