Protect your trees/plants these next few nights! (agriculture, food)

[Ponderosa]

Add poinsettias to the list of plants that are not cold tolerant...

[Chelito23]

This morning was the worst for me Mid to upper 20s. At 11AM there was still solid ice on the lawn from where a neighbor had a sprinkler running at night (it was in the shade). I don't know how thick the cold layer was though...the ice surrounded a young Ficus Nitida that looked unharmed at a height of 5 feet though. I think tonight is the last "bad" night of this cold spell. It will be interesting to see how much damage things substained a week or two down the road.

[S. Chris Webb]

Where I live, we had much colder temps two nights ago than most of the Valley, and less frigid temps this morning - don't think it frosted over this morning, so who knows, it might frost tonight even though it's not in the forecast. Anyway, got a bunch of brown, shriveled lantanas, leafless hibiscus (that never really recovered fully from the frost a couple of years ago), bouganvilleas, and a purple-flowering plant that is nameless to me. A large prickly pear has dropped a couple of "branches". I sure hope the 10 or so large queen palms around the pool survive. The agaves and sage (I think it's sage) look fine.

To the ficus people - don't worry too much if they're brown - they'll most likely come back. In fact, we had a 15 foot one in our back yard that we didn't like (because they get too big and need professional trimming) that got severely damaged. We cut it down to the ground, put stump poison on it, and the dang thing kept coming back! (eventually dug out the roots) Like others have said, DON'T prune them for at least a month, or when you see professional landscapers are all doing it. You should probably fertilize them at that time. Here's a really good link on how to care for them.

[Chelito23]

Last night wasn't bad...it was the night before last that was my worst one. I went out to walk the dogs around sunbreak and there was ice covering lawns, un puddles, so it was a hard freeze. What makes it worse is that I live at the edge of the neighborhood, so as cold as it was, it was even colder in my backyard..where you gussed it, got even colder. I have cold damaged leaves covering the trees' canopies. But my Ficus in the front didn't burn at all (surrounded by cement sidewalk and street). It looks like things will come back though. It's 60 and breezy right now...let's get some atmospheric mixing going!lol Bring on the 70s and winter rains....

[johnp292]

Despite my having covered them, all of the sticker bushes that had been blooming beatifully before the cold snap are now completely withered. I dont know what these plants are called but they have green leaves and red flowers (no not rosebushes). I see them everywhere. Can someone tell me what they are and if they will come back?

[Chelito23]

Bougainvillea? They also come in white, purple, yellow, orange....they grow on walls and fences, or are more bush like at times. Thorny...usually green leafed but there is a type with white and green leaves as well. It will come back.

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Bougainvillea? They also come in white, purple, yellow, orange....they grow on walls and fences, or are more bush like at times. Thorny...usually green leafed but there is a type with white and green leaves as well. It will come back.

Looked that name up and yep, that's it. Thanks, good to know they'll recover.

[observer53]

You will need to trim back the bouganvillea (you can tell it's a really mild winter if no one's bouganvillea freezes! ) but don't cut them back until the end of next month. The dead foliage protects the living stuff underneath from any future cold snaps.

[Chelito23]

When do people cut back their cold damage? I see Observer said the end of the month...I thought people usually waited until March...

[Desertspiritsteve]

That's what Observer53 said. The end of NEXT month.