Help!!!
 

I am so not a plant person! I'm probably not even going to spell this correctly, but here goes. Due to the recent frost, our Rubellini Palms have turned brown. Will they come back? Is there something we can do to help them??? Please help! :bowdown:

Me too. I wonder too. Oh MY!
 

Will our Plumbago reincarnate? Will our Lantana live again? How about our Bourgainvilla? These are NOT HOMES.These are our plants. I am serious. Should we plan a funeral?

All my plants have returned from the dead in previous years. I planted the impatiens in June 06, and they still looked fabulous until the freeze last week.
I will cut back all the mush and I'll bet they will return. I will cut back the hibiscus at some point. I cleared off some of the mushy mess on the begonias and lo and behold, beautiful growth is underneath. I know we will get more cold so am not in a huge hurry to cut back just yet.
I have pulled out most of my Lantana and pitched it. It gets so huge and out of control IMHO.
As for the Robellinis, I intend to ignore the brown for now. When the fronds get dry and brown, I will remove them. I looked into the heart of mine and think they will live to see another day.
Citrus..I did the water spray thing but still have a lot of damage. It did not kill the trees...yet..
The Tai, Ginger and stromanthe all seem to come back.
I am not going to be a slave to covering plants. If they can't take the climate, maybe they should not be in my landscape. I have tried to plant the more delicate specimens in protected areas where the retained heat of the house can help keep them warm. I also sit right on the lake and that has to create some warmth.

http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu/

There is an office in The Villages at LSL. They should be able to help you with this issue. They host classes monthly or bi-monthly. These are FREE to Villagers I believe. There are also many other website links here....

I know they were on the the radio the other talking about all of the FL plants that are hurting. They stated things like NOT watering the grass too much or bothering to fertilize it right now because it just won't help. They said it will come back to it's normal green color around March.



Check out VCDD website as well. They have a wealth of information in regards to what information about plants and water management, etc.

http://www.districtgov.org/

Thank you Sam and Cassie. I will try to give them a little healthy neglect.

Wait until early march and prune or cut back dead foliage. Most everything will bounce back, normally better.

Aye, Aye!
 

That's right Sammie! I'll go out and tell my Robellinis it's my way or the highway! HAHAHA! :laugh: You go girl!

I was always told to talk to my plants....maybe this explains everything....they just need some tough love! Ignore them and they will live!!

I don't think I will talk to them anymore...I am tired of the one conversations anyway!

The experts say not to cut anything back until all danger of frost has passed. However I couldn't stand looking at all the brown leaves so I cut back my hibiscus already.

Even with frost covers, a lot of my more vulnerable stuff got sick. Even my key lime tree which I treasure is wilting and dropping leaves.

But as Sam says, I'm not going to be a slave to covering plants. If they die out, I'll replace them with something more hardy.

BTW, knock-out roses really are frost resistant.

Had to run to a mtg in Ocala last nite. On the way there passed a number of large nurseries and wondered what they did, if anything, to protect their acres of vulnerable plants????

Another frost!
 

Oh Nooooooooo..... Please not another frost! My Robolinni's can't take it! I know Sammie said to be stern with them, but I love them and don't want them do die! Too big to cover and the mean weatherman says down to 30 tonight and 28 tomorrow night!

Let's do a community affirmation! Repeat after me! :clap2::clap2::clap2: NO FROST! NO FROST! NO FROST! :bowdown: Puh-leeeeassssse!

I'm chanting Chels...can you hear me........

NO MORE FROST NO MORE FROST

I just can't believe that I have to look at my withered ,brown, hibiscus for another month, but that's what a landscaper told me...also they said do not waste water or fertilizer on the lawn...wait till March and the grass will come back. Cut back the Hibiscus, bouganvilla, and lantana in March as far back as any new growth.
February is going to be ugly in my landscape.:cus::cus:

NO MORE FROST.......I'm yelling:cus::cus:

Yes!
 

I'm with you Beads. My heart is breaking at all the brown stuff around. :cryin2:

Frost Covers
 

I've packed away my frost covers. I'm tired of being a slave to cold nights. Once a bush suffers frost bite, it looks wilted and dead, even if it will come back the next year. I love my hibiscus bushes when they're healthy. But .. from now on .. if something doesn't survive the frost and look good, I'll replace it with something that will.

Citrus trees ...
 

The good people at the nursery we deal with told us to expect our citrus trees to lose all their leaves, without a doubt, but that the important thing is to protect their trunks, because if they freeze, that's the end of the tree. During the worst of the frost last week, we had the trunks wrapped in old comforters, per their suggestion. The robellini (sp?) palms are the only other ones we have to be concerned about, but there's really nothing we can do. Yes, the other stuff will come back....

nursery
 

like the bowler hat!
seriously, can you recommend a good nursery? i want to plan out additional landscaping, but being from PA I need some help in choosing.
thanks,
j

We'd planted a few things this past year, including a robelinni. It looks pretty darn brown to me. If it can't take the frost from this pretty hard winter, then it's outta here and we'll find something else.

I like them , but I'm not worrying about a plant and not crawling out in the cold to cover it.

We have three quite large robellini palms--beautiful plants that fit our landscaping so well--and initially tried to protect them. I think we've reached the point of accepting that they may have been the wrong palm for the potential in our climate zone. If they make it, they make it, and if not, they'll be replaced with something more suitable for the frosts we do get from time to time. As we drive around TV, we see lots of palms that look perfect in spite of the frost. Much to learn....

Sid, I think we're now going to try a Chinese Fan Palm - hardy , frost tolerant, and among the smaller of the palm trees and still quite attractive.

Good to Know...
 

This is good to know because where we have our Robellini's, we would need a smaller palm. And I will admit, I am palm-challenged!

That said ... I want my Robellini's to live!!!!!! :cryin2:

The Butia (Butia Capitata) might be worth looking at. Also known as the Pindo Palm and the Jelly Palm.
It has edible fruit and is cold hardy.
Not a beauty.....but has a great personality.:pepper2:
Pictures Butia:
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Palm..._capitata.html
Chinese Fan
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Palm...chinensis.html
European Fan
http://palmsrus.tripod.com/id19.html

Jeff, I see on the internet that chinese fans palms are quite large, and "reasonable to expensive" in price.

Of course people love robellinis because they are so petite and darn cute!

Do you have any other suggestions for frost-resistent "cutesy" palms that are reasonable in price?

Cold damaged palms
 

I know the brown frawns look unsightly but you will do more damage to the plant by cutting them back now. Try to wait a couple weeks.The plant should survive if the heart was not damaged. Frost cloth will help against frost but cold is cold and some sensitive plants cannot handle this.:beer3:

Help is right!!!