I was so depressed after the freeze. I brought all my container plants in, and I had a couple I knew would survive, but it looked pretty much like I had lost everything else. Well, surprise! surprise! Things I thought were dead and gone are coming back up!

Ice Cream Bananas - started putting out new leaves about a week ago. If anybody in or around Gainesville wants one, please come get it. I have one that is about 4 feet tall and in a bad place, so I need it gone.

Oyster plant - got one sprig from a friend here 2 years ago, and it multipled into a whole, thick row of them. I knew it wasn't really cold hardy here, so I figured it wouldn't survive three nights below 25 degrees. I pulled up quite a few and broke off pieces to root, but never expected them to survive. Covered them with leaves and prayed. They still died completely back, but last week, I noticed some green, and they are all coming back from the base, which did not freeze. Now what to do with all these rooted cuttings?

Tropical Hibiscus - I was shocked those even grew up here when I first moved in. I didn't root any cuttings this year, and every limb died completely down to the ground. Found a little bit of green right at ground level, so I left it and VOILA! The biggest one is coming back with a vengeance, the prettiest one wasn't very well to begin with, but it's trying to send up one branch. Don't know about the red one yet. No signs of life, but I'm still praying.

The worst thing about losing the hibiscus was that they provided shade for my wandering jews and peacock gingers. The dead limbs won't be enough shade, so I'm growing morning glories up the dead plants. It will take some training to get them where I need them, but eventually I'll be trying to kill them before they kill the hibiscus! LOL

Daturas I was all set to have to replant those from seed, all but the double purple I had in a pot that I brought inside, but nope -- the danged things are coming back up from the roots! We'll see how they do. I still have seeds, just in case.

Perennial Hibiscus - The cranberry hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella) and Texas Star are coming back up. I see seedlings of the H. radiatus, but the Albemoschus manihot and the H. Sabdariffa didn't make it. Strangely, a plant I thought was a brugmansia cutting I had in water turned out to be the Albemoschus manihot, so I didn't lose it after all. Sabdariffa (sorrel, Florida cranberry) are easy as pie to grow from seed, so no problem there.

"Little Ruby" alternanthera - I actually WANTED this to die, because it had gotten completely out of hand and was strangling my plants in one bed. It's pretty, but it spreads like wildfire and also reseeds. I thought it was all gone, but now I see some peeking out. I'll have to find a place to put it where it can grow wild to its heart's content. That stuff is a WEED!

I look every day to see what else comes up. Today, I pulled back some leaves and found that my walking iris seem to have survived. They were just babies, so I really didn't expect them to.

What's surprising you in your yard?