Marcia, I know you were up north when the frost happened and wondered how your yard did.

What around your neighborhood in that specific NE orientation still looks good after our frost? I'd plant the stuff that works for your neighbors, and I learned the hard way.

Last year I had an absolute temper tantrum after the second freeze. I pulled out everything that was brown in our direct sight line out back. I even planted some hollies to see green in the winter in FL. It felt like New England all over again, but did not want to see dead vegetation for months on end.

I only wrapped a bottle palm in the back, and I am looking at a lot more green. The bananas came back on their own and the leaves are toast, but that is to be expected.

Carol B. Sarasota

Plant the boring old hardy standbys and then put annuals and perennials in front for variety in the warmer seasons. You can add acid fertilizer for the acid-lovers if that's what you like.

Marcia,
Welcome back to the warmth!
Carol's suggestion is a good one - see what looks good in your neighborhood.
Here are a couple of things that survived the last two years for me and we did get into the high 20's last year and just at freezing this.
Lakeview Jasmine - wonderfully dark green with small, very fragrant white flowers and red berries. They were banned for awhile as they carried some kind of citrus bug, but they are back now although you will only find them in small nurseries.
Same with nandina - it's listed as invasive (I'm not sure why) and mine are happy in the cold - one gets full sun and turned a beautiful bronze, the other in shade is still green.
Serissa is a wonderful shrub - small and arching, with dark green small leaves and white flowers in spring. I have a bunch planted in the sand in my old driveway and they did fine.
There is also the old fashioned plant natal plum - one of my all time favs.
I haven't found the perfect hardy shrub that flowers often or in winter, so I think annuals would be useful to you.
Hope this helps,
Hester

I think most if not all of the plants you named are for the south. I am from northern Pa and I have never seen any of them up there. Azeleas (for that zone)rhododendrons, hollies, boxwood. I wish I could think of more. I haven't lived in Pa for over 30 years. I let you know when I think of more. Nandina is invasive. What is used in the landscape beds around here is dwarf nandina.

Carol, that's a good suggestion. I have noticed some yards before the freeze but I need to pay more attention now to see what is still looking nice.

Rita, I will probably plant 'boring' plants since they will stay nice looking. I really don't have much room in the beds--see photo below--but I will keep my eye out for some colorful glazed pots that I can add.

Hester, thank you for your plant suggestions. I'll look into them. However, I think I am colder than you, maybe I should say zone 9 instead of 9b after 3 winters with freezes!

Zackey, I am looking for plants for my Florida yard, not my PA yard (we are a pair of those dreaded 'snowbirds'!). When we left PA this week it was 5 degrees! I am not complaining at all about having to garden and dig holes and buy new plants. I feel very lucky!

This is the side of the house that I want to re-do, taken last November before any freeze. The bed is narrow in depth, about 3 feet deep and filled with small river gravel.

The foundation planting on the right side of the house has 2 ligustrums that have weathered neglect nicely, but I have to prune them a couple times a year, and two arboricola (variegated schefflera) that only had a little touch of freeze damage.

Marcia

This is a photo taken today. The freeze damage isn't as bad as last year's, but winter isn't over yet.
Marcia

Marcia, What a pretty house you have! I found this:

http://centralfloridagardener.blogspot.com/p/cold-hardy-plants.html

Carol B. Sarasota

I have Michelia figo (banana shrub) that can tolerate some cold. It has lovely banana/vanilla scented flowers. Camelias can tolerate some shade. Both of those like somewhat acidic soil if you can amend your beds. I put alot of coffee grounds from Starbucks and pine bedding from my chicken coops into my acid loving plants soil. It seems to work okay.

Beautyberry is cold tolerant but does loose its leaves in the winter. The wild birds and my poultry love the pink berries so it is growing wild all over the property here. Night blooming jasmine dies back to the ground but returns in the spring.

Thanks, Carol. We are very lucky we found this place, although there are many on the market and/or vacant in North Port. It's sad. Thanks for the link.

I'd like to find a banana shrub, Sultry jasmine. I've read about them but have never seen it anywhere to buy. I have also never seen a beautyberry to buy, although I have seen a few on vacant lots here. I am thinking about camellias also.

I also found this old pdf file that might be of interest to some others.

Here is a link that might be useful: .pdf of cold hardy plants for Florida, 1963

If you could get cuttings of beautyberry from the vacant lots. They are easy to start from cuttings.
Once in awhile H.D. has the banana shrubs in 1 gal. size but I couldn't find any when I first moved out here so I bought two from wellspring100 (ebay seller) they were like little pencils when I first got them (basically rooted cuttings) but I had them in one gallons and they were blooming the first year. That was three years ago and they are pretty good sized now. Pretty good for 4.99 each lol.

You can plant beautyberry from seed but not sure how long they would take to make berries.
I know NBJ (cestrum nocturnum) flowers the first year from seed if started indoors in the winter and are super easy to root from cuttings.

Ooops! I thought you were talking about your house in Pa!