Teas Winter Tips

Oops! It's supposed to freeze tonight.

Covering outdoor tropicals and bringing in potted plants can be a chore this time of the year. You can make your job easier with a few advance preparations and by learning which plants are the most sensitive to cold.

Preparations

Plants to leave out
Plants to take in
Irrigation Pressure Vacuum Breaker Bleeding

Have a few saucers on hand and prepare a spot for your pot plants. It might actually freeze again in Houston this winter. Our plants are not always very well prepared for the frosts that can come right after balmy 90 degree weather.

Because plastic is a danger once the sun comes out, it is better to use fabric to cover plants. It would be a good idea to purchase some Frost Cloth material from Southwest Fertilizer to cover up plants outside. This material is inexpensive and designed to breathe and insulate. If you can bring the material to the ground and weight it down you can improve the temperature underneath by a couple of degrees. Mulching your plants is good as well. You can mulch anytime to 2 inches thick, but you could cover the base of plants more deeply during very cold weather as extra protection. When the weather warms up the extra mulch should be removed.

Plants to leave out in Houston, Texas

Don't waste your time and your elbow grease on these hardier pot plants. They'll probably be okay unless we really get zapped (down in the teens for 2 days or more). This list can also be used to decorate with hardy plants in pots for the winter.

Many of these may freeze back, but return strongly when spring comes. If they are prized pets, bring them in.

Asparagus Fern
Canary Island Date
Cast Iron Plant (aspidistra)
Century Plants (agaves)
Chrysanthemums
Cyclamen
Euonymus
Ginger
Hen and Chicks
Holly Fern
Iris
Japanese Aucuba
Junipers
Kumquats

Ligustrum
Nephtitis
Oleander
Pansies and violas
Pittosporum
Prickly Pear Cactus
Roses
Rosemary
Sago Palm
Sasanqua Oranges
Split-leaf (selloum) philodendron
Windmill Palm
Yuccas

Plants to take in

Some of the most susceptible to freezing are:

Begonias
Bougainvillea
Bromeliads
Chinese Evergreen
Closet Plants
Crotons
Dracaena
Episcia

Geraniums
Heliconia
Hibiscus
Ixora
Orchids
Plumeria
Sansevieria
Tibouchina

The above plants are worth saving in the garage or a sunny window. If you're really lucky you will have a greenhouse or sunroom for this purpose. One way to make instant protection is to set up a camping tent and put your plants in it.

Except for cactus and bromeliads it is always good to water your plants before and after a freeze. Try Cloud Cover®, Frost Pruf®, or Muriate of Potash to spray on susceptible plants to protect the leaf surfaces.