How far do you go to protect your outdoor plants from frost?
 

I was amazed to see how much time these villagers spent on protecting their outdoor plants from frost tonight (all the white dots you see on the lawn is fabric draped over the plants). Kudos to them!! I just brought my pots in, and hoping for the best for the planted bushes. Do any of you go through a big ordeal to save your 'babies'?

:) Not me. If it's gonna die tonight..... it don't belong here, and tonight's forecast is for a low of only 35 anyway. :icon_wink:

Last year our hibiscus froze to death, well, it actually turned out to be suspended animation. in our yearly freeze. Thought it was a goner. Neighbor said to use it in our pellet grill as kindling or have it cremated at Baldwin Brothers but I didn't want to use my Black Friday Baldwin Brothers BOGO coupon on that. It was just dried twigs and stalks....... but to our surprise it came back even better this year. :D Moral of the story is .... save your BB coupons for the couple special.

My daughter gave me a gardenia plant last May, which I planted out back. Because it’s new and I’m still trying not to kill it, my husband put a pillowcase over it tonight. Everything else is on its own. I have one potted mum outside, and it’s survived over a year now, so it should be ok.

Being part time residents we just cross our fingers and hope for the best. Even when we are there during a frost we don't do anything because we know there are times we can not be there when there will be a frost. A couple of winters ago it appeared that we lost a bunch of plants, but they all recovered when the spring arrived.

What I want to know is why doesn't the frost kill the dam weeds?

I just cover my tomato plants everything else should be fine.

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...yes, cover the plants, and gosh I get so worried about frost and freeze down here, this is how I go out on our cold nights.
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They are outdoor plants and on their own.

Do plan to buy a snow shovel for my wife tomorrow so as to be prepared.

Hahahahahahahaha

I brought my poinsettia into the garage. The hibiscus is overgrowing the patio, so I would love if it frosted out. We had one at our first house that "died" in a frost, and I rejoiced because the fallen blossoms were staining the driveway when my husband backed over them before I could pick them up. Unfortunately it sprang back to life the next spring. And that bougainvillea (aka California interstate weed) that we inherited with this house is also welcome to bite the dust.

Today I covered just one outdoor plant (a tender mandevilla), and moved a few pots into the garage. I lost some plants that were not covered in the week-long deep freeze in December 2017, but haven’t lost any plants since then.

I had some really good guffaws from this thread.

:1rotfl::clap2::coolsmiley:

That reminds me of a late friend of mine. His wife asked if they could buy a dishwasher. He said, why, I married one. :boom:

Yes, I cover up my pepper plants, what’s left of them. Usually 3 or 4 time years? Tomorrow night will be night that freezes them depending on which end of villages you live in?

My Croton in the pot in the upper right of the photo has been through 3 winters, I haven't covered yet. We'll see tomorrow morning because tonight is suppose to be about 33 degrees. I bought it at Lowes for $8 in a small pot, it grows like crazy.

https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net...7f&oe=5FEE2CC8

Well many years ago my mom said guys my age should not be shoveling snow, much safer when wife does it. Who am I to argue with my mom.

Did he get a warranty?

Yes we covered our beautiful Hibiscus 5 ft tall plants which finally have lots of blooms and buds, just not ready to say goodbye to them...they give us such nice privacy to our lanai..

We just pray to God it won’t freeze. When The Villages reaches Miami we will move to the warmer section of TV.

Been there when we first .moved here. Now everything is on their own.

I spray my plants and short palm tree with “Freeze Proof”. It’s like a liquid blanket that can save plants from freezing.

I brought my croton in last night. I always assume that potted plants are more fragile than ones that are in the ground. Good luck.

lol!!!

No offense, but what does that mean, you wasted a prayer on a no freeze Hahaha And how do we reach Miami ??? I've been around since 1996 and full time since 2004 so I'm wondering where is the "warmer section" you speak of ??? Again, no offense, just chuckling my coffee

I'd never heard of that product. :coolsmiley:

We brought our potted lime tree into our lanai. Probably not necessary but it still has fruit on it. The last time we had a really bad stretch of frost was January 2017, I think. Then we only lost one very young hibiscus, without covering anything . Now basically I don’t worry if the daytime temps go back up after a cold night. It is only if the cold continues all day as well as night over at least 2 days

Yeah, a product called no freeze LOL I saw more plants last night with no masks... at 44 degrees what are they thinking ???

I cover my bougainvillea if it drops below freezing. I bring potted lemon trees inside for the night if freezing.

My thoughts on FreezePruf
I searched Lowe’s, Home Depot and Amazon and can not find this product. Wonder where they got it.

If it is a hibiscus, just leave it. It might lose its leaves, but it will come back, as mine did. The garden store said do not remove it, and they were right. The rest of my plants did fine.

We used to always cover outside flowers and sensitive bushes, including a beautiful Robillini Palm bush. Over thr years, the Robillini has grown way too large to cover and we grew weary of climbing into the attic to get the covers and bringing in every pot. So now, we still bring in a few that we don't want to lose but let the rest, mostly just annuals, either make it or not.

I let them die then dig them out. If they can't survive the cold temps, I don't want them. Survival of fittest.

Yes, we covered all the plants could get frostbitten. Just had new landscaping done in June and I’m not ready to give it up yet. I think for the couple of nights they need to be covered it’s not such a big deal. After two or three days, it will be back in the 50s and 60s at night and I won’t have to worry. Effort is minimal.

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Been in Gilchrist for 6 years now. Some of our plantings over the years (now dead or thriving...) may not be frost resistent, but we loved the look. After losing some early on, I typically don't take a chance now.

Forecast for 34 or so I moved 3 potted plants into garage, and covered 4 flowering plants and our braided Bougainvillea that is just flowering again. Just to be safe. Glad I did, noticed frost on our neighbor's roofs. And when going out for the paper earlier, frost on our front grass. Only took 25 minutes to move and cover the plants. Better safe than sorry.
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Freeze/frost
 

Been in The Villages almost 11 years. Coming from Minnesota, gardening here has been a learning experience. Now most plants and flowers bought are good to at least 30 degrees. If they freeze, wait until spring, usually after February 14, to cut the bad plants/flowers back and they will come back.

Too funny 😂

The pot, which you can't even see in that photo, is a heavy clay pot. I would guess the plant and pot weigh 35 pounds all together. It's way too much to move inside. Hopefully it makes it.

I do cover my succulents and my dwarf citrus if the temp is going to 32. I bring my orchids inside if the temp is going below 58. I get so much fruit off my citrus trees, I would be so sad if they had a huge setback due to frost/freeze. 😊

I don't go any further than the front yard :1rotfl::1rotfl:

actually it takes a couple of nights of weather in the 20's to damage plants. we lost areas on a few plants about 3 years ago. now we only have plants that are hardy in this temperate zone

I’m with you
 

there on there own , if they die it was written lol , just have someone plant new ones , more business for other people , funny thing is I haven’t lost anything in years