It was 28 on my front porch this morning at 7:00 when I left for work. The birdbaths were frozen solid! Meaning that everything that was cold sensitive and uncovered has been knocked back to the ground. At that temp even the plants that were covered by sheets might be damaged but I wasn't about to check this morning. The only plants that I can be sure weren't damaged are my giant red leafed crinums that were covered by a heavy blanket with a shop light under it with them. I'll see how well the rest of the plants faired when I get home tonight.

Kara

I didn't have any frost so I don't think I'll have much damage. Maybe get a bit of die back on some plants since I grow a lot of tropicals.

Pretty extensive damage. The mulberry fruits are ok, though.

The covered stuff did fine, some plants I already know will look like death's door. The usual suspects look miserable like: Cherries Jubilee Alamanda, Popcorn Cassia, Nightblooming Jasmine, and Dwarf Poinciana. They come back but look so terrible in the mean time, like plant purgatory, and then they leaf out again. I did not lose anything, but it doesn't look like spring around here. I am surprised about a few things, Clivia is very hardy as well as Dwarf Barbados Cherries, both did fine without being covered. I forgot to cover the Aglaia odorata (Chinese Perfume Plant) and not a hint of damage.

My porterweed had already leafed out and was blooming, all those leaves are gonna fall again but the plant will likely recover again, too. The red Pentas took the worst hit, after the few new Crotons I'd planted this past fall. My Crinums look rough, but not completely done-in. The new Adoninida palms I'd planted last spring took it pretty poorly, but they did in November/December (whenever the last frost was) and recovered nicely. My Hibiscus look like death, and they may or may not recover. They did last time, but can only take so much of that.
What surprises me is that my Song of India, Glorybower, and Tapioca tree (!) are unfazed. Also, I have three Geraniums I've managed to keep alive for about 4 years now, and they seem just fine again, too.
Dawn, the red-leaf Hibiscus you gave me seems like it's in rough shape. I couldn't (and don't) cover anything, but I'd scootched it's pot into and under a large, full Jasmine to protect it somewhat. It's doing better than the other Hibiscus that are in the ground, but time will tell if it survives. Everything else I got from you sailed right on through!
:)

Shear, hope you kept that orchid inside!

Jane

Hi
Seemed to have lucked out with40/42 so not expecting any damage . I'm sure there will be some" stress" results
mainly for the orchids but they have survived worse gary

Strange how micro climates work. Karalynn got down to 28, but on a hill near the airport, we only got down to 30. The weather station I got for Christmas is sure way cool.

I had the Christmas lights on in the citrus. I tried a string around the trunk of the banana and along the base of the tomatoes this year too. This wasn't a great test, but I think I'll light the tomatoes from now on.

Larry

Jane, I have been keeping my orchids indoors since that "Sick Orchid" post. They might have gotten a "cool breeze" or two while letting the dog in and out, but so far they seem pretty happy on the kitchen counter! :)
But they can't stay there forever. Up north, the general rule of thumb was to not rule out a cold snap for SURE until after Mother's Day. Here, I'd say St. Patrick's day. So they'll be back outside at the end of March.

I got hit hard. 28 inside my screened porch. Covered tomatoes and peppers are gone. Hardier plants including my lime tree and potatoes are burned where the frost cloth was touching them. We had heavy frost all the way to the shoreline of our lake. The pastures looked like snow. In our chicken pen I had to break up their frozen water. Plumbagos, hybiscus and others are going to have to be cut all the way back I afraid. We were so close to making it through the winter without major damage.

UGH... Went up to Perry for the weekend and when I left the forcast said 42 & 36 - but it ended up freezing instead. :-( Lost everything frost sensitive. I'm not happy either.

The worst thing is that the lowgrowing stuff that would have made it past the frost? It's gone, too. All because the chickens escaped in my absence! They 'free-ranged' and destroyed SO MUCH in one weekend. So not the fun part of owning chickens. Makes me think about chicken soup! My day lillies are uprooted, the irises are shredded, they made a nest out of the strawberry & blueberry plants.... URGH. They are lucky I've put a year into raising them already.

(Sorry will stop ranting now)

Barbie

Larry, it's not unusual for me to be colder then the surrounding area as my house is the lowest in the neighborhood (I have a 1.5 acre drainage pond/ditch across the street from me) and there are no trees in the front yard to offer protection to the garden. That said, everything that I covered came through just fine with only some slight damage to a leaf here and there.

Barbie, I feel your pain concerning the chickens free ranging. A few years ago, my dad (who lives next door) thought it would be a good idea to free range their chickens. The blasted creatures headed straight for my back flower beds and scattered the mulch everywhere as well as destroyed several plants! I was not a happy camper that day!

Kara

Oh, Kara! If it was someone elses chickens!? I'd be darned if one didn't turn into soup! Consider that payment for the damage done. (Parents chicken or not.)

Waiting to see if the ice cream banana got a direct hit or only a frosting. I hope she's alive in the center and not mushy. The pup looks OK under there though. The pot was just too heavy to move by myself. :-(

I have more red leafed hibiscus, they don't like cold, and can look absolutely miserable, then leaf out again in a few weeks. I will pot more and keep my fingers crossed for yours, Shear. The ones by my front door are fine, the others in the back don't look well. My yard is all about location, sometimes I get the location wrong. Who would have thought the northwest was the warmest part of my yard? I stuck most of my cold sensitive plants in the southeast under an oak canopy. Go figure...

No damage here. Daytona's barrier island. No frost. The coleus are hale and hardy. The daylilies and the garlic plants enjoyed the change.

I put covers and lights on my bananas and pigeon peas, and they came through great. I lost the fruit on my mulberry though.