I've saved fruit many times from temps as low as 25/26/27 by going out in the very early morning hours between 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM and spraying them down with water. It does help. A couple of things -- 1) bring the hoses inside somewhere they can't freeze. Even a little water will leave an ice plug in the hose, which is frustrating and problematic at 4:00 in the morning. 2) Be sure to wear heavy, waterproof gloves with insulated gloves inside. Your hands will get cold fast, especially when wet. 3) Always get dressed. Don't go out in your pajamas and an overcoat like I did, then hide behind the compost pile for 20 minutes while the cops shine your yard looking for burglars because some neighbor called the police about the strange goings-on in your yard at 4:00 in the morning! :=)

dibbit posted this on another thread and i thought it answered your ? perfectly. The latest from the Master Gardeners/Polk County Extension agent is to wait at LEAST 3 weeks after the frost before pruning out any "dead" stuff from your woody plants (trees and shrubs) - 4 weeks would be safer. Then cut back until you get live wood - i.e.; the cambium layer just under the bark is green. If you REALLY can't stand looking at them, then you can carefully take off the dead leaves, but be REALLY careful not to damage the buds that will be the source of the new leaves - do it SOON, before the new buds start growing. Perennials, on the other hand, you can clean up now. Water if the ground is dry, DO NOT FERTILIZE, and keep a close eye on the plants that had to leaf out again, as they should now be considered stressed, and thus prone to disease and bugs in the next summer.

I am a sad person today. I ran the sprinklers the first night and covered some of the sensitive palms with potted pathos that were too big to move. They are fine. My hibicus (red hot and pink varities) have wilted leaves and flowers. I quickly covered those. The areca palms (I have about 150 planted in planters near the fence) all turned brown. They aren't wilted, but look like hell. Ixora are a little brown, but standing tall. Arbicolae all turned brown and philodendrons leaves all are laying flat on the ground. Even the yard, which is St. Augustine Floratam, wilted and turned a bit off green. There is a good side. My 8 foot queen palms ( 18 of them), roebellini, avocado tree and liriope all did great. They look like the they love it. I thought the pool in the backyard would help keep the fenced in backyard slightly warmer. The pool only got down to 55F. I thought it wuld make a "microclimate" and help. But I dont think it did. We have one more night of 34 F degrees temps. I read that I should not prune back affected leaves and branches until 2 months or so. I am going to fertilize friday or saturday to help the plants out. I had fertilized the yard last week, so I hope it will come back on its own. I hope they will do alright. I enjoyed planting them but do not want to have to repeat the process! Pete

The problem from the get go is right here: "My husband and I had to come up with rough drawings and ideas and the architect just drew them out. He didn’t speak very fluent English, but his wife did, and she did much of the drafting. He is an excellent structural engineer, but not a visionary type of architect." He's not an architect at ALL , She's at best a draftsman. The WAS no architect. A structural engineer is capable of creating a structure that will not fall down, despite your rooms make no sense. You may cut your own hair; you probably don't drill your own teeth. You may love a certain automobile, but you can't design it, build it, or make it run. Stop all the framing now, and get an actual licensed architect.