Source:
http://www.al.com/hg/mobileregister/bfinch.ssf?/base/living/1197627681299870.xml&coll=3
Friday, December 14, 2007
BILL FINCH
Environment editor
So what do you do besides cross your fingers and kiss your key lime goodbye?
Do everything you can to introduce your borderline plants to winter temperatures gradually.
Plants that can stand some freezing temperatures shouldn't be protected during those evenings when we have near-freezing temperatures. Chilly temperatures in the low 30s are just what they need to alert them to the dangers of colder winter weather.
When temperatures drop into the mid-20s, however, you'll want to think more carefully about how your plant can handle it. If that 25 degrees was preceded by many nights of temperatures in the 30s, it's not likely to do any damage to traditional Gulf Coast plants. Camellias and azaleas can easily withstand temperatures in the lower teens IF they've had plenty of time to prepare.
But if an evening of 25 degrees has been preceded by weeks of temperatures in the 60s and 70s, you may actually see damage on unprotected azaleas, camellias, citrus, red bottlebrush, oleander, Indian hawthorn and many other plants adapted to warm temperate or subtropical conditions. In those circumstances, it may be useful to pack straw or leaves around the base of favorite azaleas, or even throw a tarp over the top.
Temperatures below about 20 degrees can have a devastating effect on many subtropicals, regardless of what the preceding temperatures might have been. Oranges and Meyers lemons, for example, should probably be covered with a tarp when temperatures drop below about 22 degrees for more than a couple of hours, though the best- adapted Gulf Coast citrus, like satsumas, may well hang in there with no damage down to about 14 or 15 degrees.
But that applies only to mature trees with plenty of meat on their bones. Young citrus of any kind should receive some protection every winter. A young satsuma with a thin trunk, for example, may be severely damaged even if temperatures drop only into the low 20s.
So what am I doing this week? I'm looking for all the leaves I can find, to use as mulch around my blueberries, citrus and the like. No, I don't expect the mulch to keep the roots warm. Instead, I hope it will keep the ground cooler, so that plants won't wake up and start growing when the coldest days of winter are so close upon us.
