[Ozzello]

Just realizing.. we had SUB FREEZING TEMPERATURES ... BELOW 25F !!!!

If some plants die (that some landscapers say are fine here)... and queen palms don't die (that some people say will).... I get to do the "told you so" dance.

I know it isn't attractive, but sometimes I feel like I am standing at the edge of a cliff trying to talk lemmings into not following the lemming in front of it.

[Chi-Town]

Originally Posted by Ozzello

Just realizing.. we had SUB FREEZING TEMPERATURES ... BELOW 25F !!!!

If some plants die (that some landscapers say are fine here)... and queen palms don't die (that some people say will).... I get to do the "told you so" dance.

I know it isn't attractive, but sometimes I feel like I am standing at the edge of a cliff trying to talk lemmings into not following the lemming in front of it.

Not to worry about the lemmings:

http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lemmings.asp

[Laurie2]

Hey! People who know stuff!

I was bad. I did not cover anything. Ohhhhhhh, the guilt! The guilt!

I really liked my plant called ginger something. It has beautiful variegated green foliage. Well, had.-- Now it is all yellow and freeze-fried.

So do I go out there and apologize and cut it off almost to the ground and water it and do a little c'mon spring dance? Or do I just take a shovel to it?

I was having an attitude like -- Make it or don't. Let's see what you're made of.

Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

[Ozzello]

Originally Posted by Laurie2

Hey! People who know stuff!

I was bad. I did not cover anything. Ohhhhhhh, the guilt! The guilt!

I really liked my plant called ginger something. It has beautiful variegated green foliage. Well, had.-- Now it is all yellow and freeze-fried.

So do I go out there and apologize and cut it off almost to the ground and water it and do a little c'mon spring dance? Or do I just take a shovel to it?

I was having an attitude like -- Make it or don't. Let's see what you're made of.

Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

LUCKY LAURIE! Ginger is root hardy.
Though that popular ver. variety is tender to cold, and not root hardy if the tuberous root freezes. Pretty sure you're ok.

Yes, cut it low as possible (after the last frost). If you have stones for mulch, push it back and keep it bare till it pops up.

[Rons Landscaping]

Originally Posted by Ozzello

Back when they (citrus growers) were using overhead irrigation, during a freeze, the irrigation would be turned on all night creating an ice igloo canopy, supposedly to keep the grafted portion of the tree at 32F. It didn't work, unfortunately, and you lost all your fruit. Well, it wasn't fit for peeling and eating. Still ok to make OJ concentrate and feed cattle .
The best method the FL citrus farmer ever had to protect citrus, was the old fashioned way. Build a fire, well... a LOT of fires. The high faluting growers had grove pots to fill with diesel. In the 80s we lost the area citrus to freeze...twice, because nobody would come work all night helping the farmers keep the grove fires going. Why? One freeze on Christmas day night, (then 2 years of replanting) and then a freeze on Christmas eve. The 1st time the Gov. paid the farmers to clear and replant the groves. The 2nd time.... no dice. Retirement community property got real cheap though !
Covering (properly) can save your plants from frost damage in a light frost or save plants from dying from freeze during a short light freeze, BUT in a hard long freeze, you better add a heat source, I have seen tropical and sub-tropical plants die or damage even in a green house, because the heater broke down. Yes, right here in TV area. If it gets cold enough for long enough, covering a plant might not be enough.

I just wanted to make a comment about Ozello's post and Cunninghams Home Services post. I could not have said it any better, your remarks were right on the money. I have never said that about anyone making a post here before on Landscape Talk. It is nice to hear someone making remarks that are correct, and know about Florida's plant life. There are a lot of post made from people with their ideas about what should be done with their landscaping, but there remarks are so wrong it makes me wonder where in the world they heard it, or who told them. I understand most people moving here are not going to know about Florida's plant life, and what type of plants and trees to use in their landscape project. I preach this over and over, when you have a health problem do you go to your neighbors or friends for their advice, or do you go to your Doctor. ( Who is a professional in his or her field ) Stop and listen, ask them some questions only a person with a horticultural back round would know. Stop and look, at what they drove up in for a vehicle, is it clean and taken care of, if not, there work will look the same. Can they answer your questions with any type of horticultural answers, our is it just yeah, they look pretty they will do just fine. Now don't get me wrong, there are a few good landscaping companies around, you noticed I said a few. Most of them out there don't even know the growth rate of the plants they are selling, whether they require fall sun, shade, partial sun, cold hardy or not, and if they are, to what point, and will they come back or not. Like Ozello said, are they root hardy, can I cut them back to the ground and will they come back. I get at least 1 to 2 phone calls every week from someone in The Villages that had their landscaping done not long ago, and it is either dying, the work was not finished, they can't get them back to fix the problems, the list goes on and on. One of the first questions I ask them is, what did you pay to have the work done. There answer is always the same. Let me just say if the price sounds to good to be true it is, you get what you pay for. Most all of the time their landscaper was some guy with a wheelbarrow and a truck, or people with no workers comp or insurance, no company name on there trucks, or there lawn guy who cuts their grass and is now a landscape designer with no knowledge of Florida's plant life other than knowing the names of a couple of plants and trees he knows. I talk with the head landscape designer here in The Villages a lot, and he makes the same remarks I just said. Ron did you see this job that they are doing at so and so's address, on so and so street? (Just be careful, anyone can grab a wheelbarrow and a shovel and call themselves a landscaper). And by the way Ozello"s remark about plants even dying in the greenhouses during a freeze when the heaters go out is correct. That happened to me in 1989 or 1990 when I was a wholesale grower here in Florida. We grew around 130,000 plants at a time, and one night the heat went out during a hard freeze in one of our greenhouses, and I lost 6,000 plants in about 3-hours, mother nature can be cruel. Again, it was nice hearing some very nice remarks from Ozello and Cunningham's Home Service.

[Ozzello]

Going to be a LOT of phone calls in the next couple weeks.....

And when they tell you this freeze was an Act of God, and not typical for this area, Look at the 50 and 100 year cycles for our local weather patterns (like the Government does for building retention areas and planting landscapes), you will find God has been acting like this for a loooong time. Winters over the last 10-15 years have been a bit mild.
If the 'cold hardy' plants your landscaper planted froze, I'd like to see some posts about what plants, and who planted them. Just for some accountability, they can probably afford it.

[Ozzello]

Originally Posted by Rons Landscaping

I just wanted to make a comment about Ozello's post and Cunninghams Home Services post. I could not have said it any better, your remarks were right on the money. I have never said that about anyone making a post here before on Landscape Talk. It is nice to hear someone making remarks that are correct, and know about Florida's plant life. There are a lot of post made from people with their ideas about what should be done with their landscaping, but there remarks are so wrong it makes me wonder where in the world they heard it, or who told them. I understand most people moving here are not going to know about Florida's plant life, and what type of plants and trees to use in their landscape project. I preach this over and over, when you have a health problem do you go to your neighbors or friends for their advice, or do you go to your Doctor. ( Who is a professional in his or her field ) Stop and listen, ask them some questions only a person with a horticultural back round would know. Stop and look, at what they drove up in for a vehicle, is it clean and taken care of, can they answer your questions with any type of horticultural answers, our is it just yeah, they look pretty they will do just fine. Now don't get me wrong, there are a few good landscaping companies around, you noticed I said a few. Most of them out there don't even know the growth rate of the plants they are selling, whether they require fall sun, shade, partial sun, cold hardy or not, and if they are, to what point, and will they come back or not. Like Ozello said, are they root

lol Ron, you spelled Ozello with 1 'Z', like you know where it is

I also notice you don't post 'letters' thanking yourself for the awesome landscape you planted yourself.. Kudos man