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The Dead Plants Society
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by Anne Moss, HCMG |
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“If you are not killing
plants, you are not
really stretching
yourself as a gardener,”
said J. C. Raulston, the
famous horticulturist.
If dead plants are the
proof, then the members
of the Hill Country
Master Gardeners are
well-extended after last
winter’s severe cold
compounding the effects
of a long drought.. |
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Officially, Kerrville
and the area immediately
north are in plant
hardiness Zone 7b
(5-10°), while the rest
of the area from
Fredericksburg (and
north), then west to
Junction and southeast
to Boerne, is in Zone 8a
(10-15°). San Antonio is
Zone 8b (15-20°), due to
its lower elevation and
the effect of the urban
heat island. The USDA
Plant Hardiness Zone Map
measures the average
annual minimum
temperatures for a
particular area. (See
Plantmaps USDA Plant
Zone Hardiness Map). But
the last few years of
warmer-than-normal
temperatures have lulled
local gardeners into
thinking that esperanzas,
palms and oleanders
belong here. The past
winter of 2009-2010 saw
extremes of cold, with
temperatures in
December, January and
February dipping to low
20s, teens, and even
single digits —
officially 8 degrees in
Kerrville on one day in
January! In my informal
survey, many of our Hill
Country Master Gardeners
members reported dead or
damaged plants this
spring.
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Many
of the plants popular in
the Hill Country can
survive freezing but not
temperatures that drop
below 20. You won’t be
surprised to learn that
the most common victims
of the cold were
non-natives, such as the
South African plumbago
and bulbine, or tropical
plants, such as palms or
oleanders. Most likely
to survive were, of
course, the native
plants — the reliable
autumn sage, yaupon,
fall asters, etc., but
not necessarily the
native hybrids. Lantana
“Texas Gold” or Salvia
“Indigo Spires,” for
example, proved not as
hardy as the
non-hybridized natives
in some cases. |
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Another feature common
to some of the lost
plants was that they had
been planted recently.
Although fall is often a
good time for planting
shrubs or perennials,
those plantings may need
extra cold protection in
case they are not yet
well-established by the
time winter arrives. |
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Here’s the list of
plants most often
mentioned as damaged or
lost: |
Agaves
Bougainvillea
Brugmansia
Bulbine
Bush Morning Glory
Esperanza
Grass, Bamboo Muhly
Grass, Purple Fountain
Grass, Ruby
Lantana (hybrids)
Mexican Bush Sage
Oleanders
Palms
Plumbago
Pride of Barbados
Salvia “Indigo Spires”
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What’s the lesson here?
If you want to maximize
the chances of having
your perennials and
shrubs return each
spring, stick to Hill
Country natives suited
to zone 7b or 8a, and
get your new plants well
established before
winter sets in. But, if
you are an adventurous
gardener — as it seems
most of us are — then
make sure you get out
the mulch, row covers or
greenhouse and bundle up
your new plants, hybrids
and banana trees when
severe cold is
predicted. |
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On the bright side, the
Master Gardener knows
that every dead plant
represents a new
opportunity — a garden
vacancy waiting for your
next experiment. |
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Thanks to everyone who
took the time to respond
to my random emails.
And, if you did not hear
from me but have your
own dead-plant list, by
all means email it to me
and I will add it to the
survey. |
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Anne Moss, HCMG
May 2010 |
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