I haven't assessed the total aftermath yet, but my Tally's cactus was showing damage even before the weekend. Surprisingly, the ghost plants were Ok on Saturday. Other troopers are pink dianthus, sedum, Agave bracteosa, yellow columbine, Canary Island palms, variegated Chinese eleagnus and thornless opuntia.

Omar

Ouch - didn't realize SA had gotten that cold. We hit 14° F towards the end of 48+ hours well below freezing - our coldest stretch in 5 or 6 years. Think we probably lost the 'Dallas Red' lantana, blue plumbago, Mexican heather, bulbine, and tropical milkweed; these are all tagged as annuals in Dallas, but sailed through our past two relatively mild winters. Fortunately it didn't get very wet, so the damianita and 'Silver Falls' dichondra that usually die on us at these temps look like they'll survive (so far), other than some freeze burn. Suspect there are some other surprises to be found ahead.

Decided to dig up and shelter the bunny grass and chocolate plant you shared because I hadn't taken any divisions/cuttings and was unsure they could make it - rarely resort to such heroics, but they're such nice plants I'm still getting to know. :-)

Omar, the Agave bracteosa here is perfectly fine too. I love that variety, so hardy and so beautiful and no spines. Various 'ghost plants' types are mostly okay, too. Like you I'm still assessing the damage.

Bostedo, with those cold temps any chilli thrips in your area were probably killed. It's said that 2 days of 25 degrees or below will do them in. I imagine with several warm winters it would take them several years to build up enough population to do noticeable damage. A cold winter here sets them back a little, but it's never cold enough for long enough. Damage is again detected by late all in about two years.

I forgot to mention that sometimes the Aloe Maculata will firm up several days after warm up so be slow about cutting things back. Things might get better.

Leaves on our 'Macho Mocha' mangave are mush almost to the core, but am guessing it can recover - is that right? YuccaDo and others have them listed as hardy to 7b.

Just noticed the leaves on the normally evergreen bush germanders (Teucrium fruticans) in the alley are also toast. Knew they might be marginal this far north, but will wait to see if/how they recover.

Roselee, We fortunately have not had much trouble with chilli thirps, but am glad to learn our long freeze will help keep it that way. Too bad it's not as effective on crape myrtle scale and mosquitoes.

This is an excellent opportunity to make a compost bin. Those mushy parts will heat up fast.

My mucho macho is mush too. I am ignoring it . It is in a large pot , not the ground so that might have made it the kiss if death. My girlfriend grows it in OKC but she has magic green thumbs.

I have much to do also to cut everything back. We had one freeze down to 15.4°, so lots of dieback, and some things won't recover, I imagine. Well, at least this will leave some areas to put potted plants into once I sort out what will and won't recover. I think that the medicinal aloe that Sheila gave me will recover, some dieback, but looks okay otherwise. As for the other aloes, they may not come back. I may have to replace the lemongrass also.

Joey, how did plants at the San Antonio Botanical Garden fare? I hope the warmer micro-climate around the gardens helped in avoiding what some of us experienced.

The opuntia leucotricha is lying on the ground , but I will see if they stand back up. Opuntias are weird that way.

Darn, I didn't see this thread! I just posted some of my casualties elsewhere. Roselee are you trimming already? I'm letting the dead foliage as protection for potential future freeze

That is my philosophy too normally. On some plants though I will cut before.. I chopped off all may sago palm fronds and stacked them around the trunk BEFORE the first cold front. They turn all mottled with straw colored burn so I would be pruning them in the spring any way. It gives me slash to protect stuff with.

But other stuff, I am leaving be. Salvia should not be cut back till one sees green growth. The hollow stems can route rot into the crown if you do it too soon. Opuntia dead pads can act as padding but they too can be vectors of rot to healthy pads. HMMMMM. I am too busy working in the woods to do garden stuff right now.

Bossy, it's hard to look at, but I'm leaving the dead foliage on things like shrimp plant, blue plumbago, Mexican honey suckle, etc. for as long as I can stand it ... ! I wrap the limp leaves of things like Monstera around the bottom of the plant to protect them in case we have another hard freeze. Right now I'm just taking out the things that are hopeless, and a few things that I just don't want to contend with anymore.

After all the rain, too much shade from fast growing trees, constant pounding of little dog feet, and then the freeze the Floratam St. Augustine isn't looking any too good either. Getting it thick and green again might be a challenge. Might be making more paths instead of grass.

One thing that is never fazed by freezes is Holly fern. The Agave parrasana "meat claw" is also unfazed. It's a brother of the one that bloomed last spring.

Weird, My A. parasana gets rot from cold and wet. I am on a second one now. What is also weird is the other side of my hill got down to 13F and our side was much warmer. Maybe 17F. Some Others got down to 16F

Must be the particular A. parasana cultivar that is different. I've grown many under various conditions and they have always been bullet proof. I got my start from Yuccado way back when they used to come and sell at the SABG, maybe 15-20 years ago. I remember I paid $10 for the little plant. I thought it was expensive at the time, but it was a good investment. They don't pup much, but when I have one I'll save it for you.

Come to think of it I got a plant from Lowes that was labeled A. Parasana, but it croaked the first winter.

It was sold to me as a meat claw.

Roselee a lot of the stuff at the botanical gardens got knocked back. I noticed that the Cereus peruvianus were a little weird. We're just gonna have to wait a month or two to see.

I'm sorry you all lost your plants and my hope is that they do return from roots. I have zone envy again though.

You all have a totally different experience than I have every winter, just a couple hundred miles to the north. My garden is dormant and will remain that way for a couple of months. I just accept it and move on every winter. The only things still green are the mondo grass, blue spruce sedum, cast iron plant, ajuga looks wilty but it's green, iris, spiderwort, yarrow and my yuccas and agave. I have a barren wasteland of dead foliage :-) I have a few evergreen shrubs and a blue juniper, but it's pretty brown here with the chipped oak leaf mulch.

Pam yes, down here we do get rather spoiled after a couple of warm winters when most things stay green and alive; not only alive but blooming. Then comes a hard freeze and we think "Oh no. Not fair!", but that's just how the ball bounces and the mercury falls ... :-)

Mara, I dunno', maybe your meat claw's ancestor was collected on the warm side of the mountain and mine on the cold side. Ya' think?

Or yours from the top of the mountain and mine from the bottom.

I take back what I said about the Satsuma not having so much as a scorched leaf. It has a few, but damage is minimal.

It seems that neither heat nor cold can damage the Color guard yuccas. They are true survivors which is surprising being that they are variegated ...

Another beauty that was unscathed is Agave blue glow. I wish I could say the same about my favorite agave pictured below; A. americana 'mediopicto alba'. None of the three large ones nor any of the young ones will make it.

Another favorite because of it's twists and ruffles, Tally's columnar cactus, which is in worse shape than I thought ...

If any of these had been covered they may have made it. My excuse for not covering as I have in the past is at this stage in my garden 'career' it's important that I cut back on care so it comes down to survival of the fittest. There will be less variety, but actually repetition in plant material is not to be frowned upon.

I welcome any and all suggestions on what to plant in the vacant pots, Color guard yuccas? Yes. Was also thinking of something like colorful dwarf nandinas. Has anyone grown them in a pot? Any recommendations on variety?

I forgot to mention my color guard yucca, it still looks fine after a couple nights in the teens.

Pam, thank you! I had no idea that color guard yucca was hardy from zones 4 through 10 until I googled it just now. And it blooms too. What a great plant!!!!

Mine hasn't bloomed yet, maybe this will be the year! I've had it in ground for 3 years I think.

I was inspired to get it after seeing yours and actually found it at Ace Hardware!

I was surprised to see a humongous group of Agave americanas on Vance-Jackson near Wurzbach that were badly damaged. They were pretty much out in the open. It's going to be a huge job to remove them. Others a few blocks away that had a wall, solid fence, or tree nearby were unscathed.

Makes me wonder whether to let Tally's columnar cactus regrow, if it even will. They can get very large and might be quite a chore to remove if they freeze again a few years down the road.

Also wondering if my variegated ginger in big pots will return from the roots. My pot ghetto behind the store room is growing!

Roselee, that is odd about the Agave americanas. I am pretty sure that's what I have and they only show freeze damage when they get ice covered for days. What a pita they are to saw off the ugly frond/leaves/pads (whatever they are called). I am a messy gardener and keep them surrounded by fall leaves until spring is really here. Mine are out by the street in a north/ northeastern exposure.

I see variegated ginger re-sprout from roots here and we are much colder. I bet they will be ok.

I can't remember ever seeing cold damaged A. americanas before. Maybe I'll try to get a photo next week.

I think the amount of damage had to do with the sudden drop in temperature and that it went low two nights in a row barely going above freezing the day between.

Thanks for the encouragement on the variegated ginger! ... :-)

The variation of the mediopicta makes it more tender than the plain Jane one. PK, You might also have a A. proto-americana. They look a lot alike and are related. Many of the pros-americanas are tougher.

I ran out and got pictures. I also noticed how much damage the neighbor across the street got on her much larger agave americana. Hers were moved from a farm to her front yard two summers ago as huge plants and she likes the much neater look of dg as mulch. Mine was planted in ground 9 years ago as a small plant. I usually don't post pics of the messy leaf litter but I don't clear this away from my 'cactus garden' until we are really in spring.

Mine

Neighbor

Color guard yucca with some little bluestem behind.

Pam, thanks for your photos. Looks like Mara nailed it. Incidentally, the center leaves of my two largest A. mediopicta are firm so will see if it will recover as quickly as some of the agaves did after being severely trimmed after the spring hail storm.

The bark scratches on the Brazilian white orchid tree, the three Almond verbena trees, and the Australian shoestring acacia are not encouraging ... sigh. The orchid tree and Sweet almond verbena will probably return from the roots, but the AVs are large trees and are going to take a lot of work to remove and dispose of.

However, the winter honeysuckle and red honeysuckle are blooming! Yellow cestrum is loosing leaves, but bark scratches appear green and healthy. Wooly bee bush and Cassia corymbosa are unscathed. I'm a bit concerned about the Arroya sweetwoods.

Oh my gosh, I googled and started finding such neat agaves :-) Has anyone ordered through Plant Lust Nurseries?

Pam, I have not, but I've purchased plants from Yuccado. They are in the process of closing their nursery and have many things on sale. Maybe they have some of the same plants available. Their site is a great resource of descriptive information and photos.

Ah, I thought that Yuccado was closed already!

I think they still some stuff while they get rid of their stock. I'd email them to be sure

I have bought nice sized agaves from Plant delights. Be aware that agaves reach their true hardiness a couple of years after being put in the ground so protect them on the first couple of winters. Also drainage is key to survival.

A week after starting this thread I am seeing more damage than I first thought. Agave blue glow is showing some spots on its leaves while the equally beautiful blue green leaves of Yucca pallida are pristine. Tropical guayacan leaves are yellowing, the native variety is not.

This big swooping trunk of Arroya sweetwood tree in the front yard is dead ...

The upright trunks to the left are okay,

Shoe string acacia is dead.

While the sun loving drought tolerant Floratam St. Augustine is showing a few green sprigs it remains to be seen whether it will recover quickly and fully. The neighbor's old fashioned St. Augustine protected by oak trees is still green and thick. Satsuma has dropped a few leaves, but will be fine. Ditto Dwarf Barbados cherry shrubs which are usually evergreen.

Bob is already removing the dead-to-the-ground Almond verbena trees. I hope they come back.

On the upside when scratched the bottom half of the Brazilian orchid tree is still green.

The weather is warm and spring like, but dang -- the real spring is still a couple of months away. February is usually our coldest month so there will probably be more freezes.

Oh well, the yard is requiring lots of work this year, but life goes on ... :-)

My agave blue glow died in a cold front here a while back. I wonder if digging them up and letting them =drie out instead of sitting in wet soil would help.

I am working on my woods and have no time to work with dead plants.

Mara, that's a great idea! We had three inches of rain last night so they are definitely sitting in wet soil. Even though I mixed in about half decomposed granite in their pots, it's still very wet. With rain predicted for the new few days I'm gonna' do it right now.

Wow... loved that long sweeping arm of the Arroya sweetwood. Is there any chance that the Shoe string acacia will come back from the roots? We had a full green bin for today's recycle pickup. Our grapefruit tree is now starting to lose its leaves. We still have trees that are covered with moving tarps and I'm afraid to uncover them.

Irene, the shoe string acacia did not grow one bit all last summer and had lost some of it's leaves near the top. It had grown about three to four feet in each of the two summers before that so I think the roots rotted from the rain and it will not return. I'm very curious to know if the ones in Austin that I've seen on garden shows and blogs are surviving.

Oh well, as the poem by Lord Tennyson says, "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." I've had the pleasure of enjoying these freeze bitten plants for several years. Nothing lasts forever.

Something else that bit the dust is the thornless cactus planted near the street. Yesterday I saw a very large one at a restaurant outside of Corpus Christi that was dead.

The shoe string acacia was beautiful and I know it was one of your favorites. I know that I forgot to see it on the last visit and remembered later. I didn't know that it had not grown last year. I agree with Tennyson, but still feel a loss. Dh keeps telling me... "stop looking out the window." We also lost Tally's cactus. It went into recycle today.

Irene, Bob and I didn't take time to visit the botanical gardens last Saturday, but 'Honey Bunny' Barbra and I went about five years ago. At that time the plumerias were in big pots sunk into the ground so they could be taken inside during the winter. I wonder if the prediction for another mild winter resulted in a decision to leave them outside this year. Hmmm ... I saw a photo above a little while ago showing they had been left out and were damaged.

I can hardly wait for spring to see what comes back in my yard. And I'm also looking forward to carrying out my new design plans. One plan is to move one of the big clumps of bunny grass to where Talley's cactus was growing. Also I'll have more room and sun for all the bogies, too. The cutting of the torch variety is doing well. Thank you ... :-)

The spineless cactus will come back from roots. They always do here anyway. That is really sad about the Arroya sweetwood. Your sure that it won't grow new foliage in spring?

Fingers crossed that Tally's cactus will resurrect from the roots and surprise all of you that lost it.

Ragna, thanks for the link to the botanical gardens in Corpus. We absolutely enjoyed our visit there and plan to go again the Spring.

By counting tree rings it looks like the big Almond verbena tree was at least ten years old. I'm hopeful that it will re-sprout.

What I'm really curious about is the life span of Arroyo sweetwood trees. Mine are about 25 years old and have lived through many cold spells with no damage whatsoever until now, but that information may not be available since they've only been grown in landscapes for a relatively short time. I suspect my one 'swooping' dead trunk, which broke away from the others several years ago, was not able to maintain a healthy root system.

If anyone goes to the San Antonio Zoo see if the parents of my trees are still growing around the Aardvark pen.

EDIT: All the Almond verbenas are sprouting from the bottom ... :-)